Change of Pace
by Draxen Exilion Claw
Summary: So... I know Daniel and I are Pokemon geeks... but never in my life did I EVER expect to actually enter the world of Pokemon! Open this story and join us in our journey across the land of Pokemon! Or at least... from Kanto through Johto... (Part One of Three of the Pace Setter Trilogy)
1. Prologue

**Hello! This fanfic will be a, what I dub, a "Pure Self-Insert", in which I use actual information. Not private info, I mean, real name and personality, along with real talents, and problems. Anyways, let's start this off!**

* * *

**Xander POV (Hey me!)**

"Xander! Could you please come up to the board and finish this equation?" Mrs. Brunswick asks me. I sigh, standing up from my position at the back corner of the classroom.

"Fine."

As I walk up, the zipper on my heavy black coat clinks with the metal desks, and with the quiet classroom, it was quite loud, and quite attention-drawing. God I hate people staring at me. I grab the marker when I reach the board and finish the simple equation.

_If x+y^2-4z=b-4z+x, then b equals…_

I simply write down my answer, _b=y^2_, and walk back to my seat.

"b equals y squared is correct Xander! Well done once again!"

I groan internally.

"Hey...pst," I turn to my left, and once again Keith was asking me questions, "Xander, could you please explain how you got that?"

I sigh, I hate people, "Fine." I show him my paper, "All you do is find the difference between the two equations"

"But we aren't subtracting…" he states confused.

"Not difference math wise, I meant difference observation wise!" I hiss.

"Oh…"

I turn away from him and wait for the bell to ring at 2:30, when this wretched school finally ends. Damn...it's only 2:06. I feel my phone buzz, and my day got slightly better.

_Hey Xander, after school, wanna walk home together? My brother isn't gonna pick me up, and we need to discuss the fanfic were writing about Pokemon. -Daniel_

Making sure my teacher doesn't catch me, I reply to my friend's text.

_Yeah, that's cool, meet you by the front gate?_ _-Xander_

"Xander, what are you doing?" Shit.

"Silencing my phone, stupid telemarketers making it buzz like crazy."

"Oh, I see," She says, clearly falling for my lie, "continue your work, but then again, knowing your reputation, you're already done?" I smirk at that.

I was, after all, Xander Bowman, the smartest and wittiest, but at the same time, most introverted and apathetic kid in freshman history.

"Hit the nail on the head."

I hear some kids grumble around me, complaining about me being a smartass as usual, it's like this in all of my classes. I read a bit on my tablet while I wait for the bell to ring.

About 20 minutes later, the sound all school haters love to hear resounds through the building; "_BBBRRRRRIIIIIINNNNGGG!_"

I grab my binders and race out the door, almost running into someone.

"Jesus Christ, dude!" I look up, yep its my friend, Daniel. He's about half a head taller than me, but I'm stronger than him. Mainly because my parents make me work out when I'm not doing anything… which is the majority of the time, unless I'm writing fanfiction.

"Sorry Daniel," I apologize, as we fall into step with the after-bell hallway traffic, which is freaking _murder_. He shakes his head.

"Nah, it's cool man, I know you wanna get the fuck out of this hell hole."

I chuckle, "You know it."

* * *

"FINALLY!" Daniel shouts as we exit the high school, "WE'RE FREE!"

I sigh, "C'mon Daniel, let's move, before we get trampled."

"Alright, alright."

As we walk down the sidewalk along the road, he and I begin discussing the timeline events for our Pokemon fanfic.

"You really think I- gah, Dusk should be like that?"

"Hey, think of it this way," I reason with him, "If he loses the fight, but sees my- I mean, Draxen's secret, it makes sense he would be in a shocked state."

"Ah, you're right."

"Of course I am."

That earned me a light slap to the face. Not that I didn't deserve it. I can be a real smartass sometimes, but hey, somebody's gotta do the work, might as well be me.

"Shut up, quit inflating you're already large ego."

"Why should I?" I ask, almost having to repeat again the a car passes by loudly.

"Because you're gonna take up the sidewalk if you don't."

"Well you know what they say, you're ego-"

"Don't finish that sentence, sexual innuendos are _my_ job," I sigh at that remark.

"Really? So I just come up with the puns that making people cringe?"

"Uh-huh," He affirms as another car zips by.

I sigh once more. Before I talk again I take in Daniel's outfit, it was slightly different than usual. He had camo jeans, black sneakers, a zipped up black and grey jacket with red lining, and black glasses over his brown eyes on his lightly tanned face. He normally has grey jeans though, eh, who am I to judge. Actually, who am I to care?

Now that I'm thinking about though, I wore my normal attire, black sweats, black sneakers, a heavy winter jacket that was unzipped, which showed my t-shirt which said 'National Sarcasm Society-Like we need your help'. I had blue glasses with no bottom rim on my pale as hell face, those glasses went over my, as many people say, 'dead' hazel eyes.

"So what do you think of that, huh?"

I shake myself out of my thoughts, "What? Sorry, I was too poor to pay attention at the time, damn taxes."

Daniel groaned, "God dammit Xander…"

I laugh at that.

"So what should we talk about now? I'm pretty sure Sorah is covered for today"

"I dunno Daniel, how about our…" I trail off. Something feels off.

"What is it?"

"It's a lot quieter, I don't hear any cars."

He takes a minute to listen closely, "Yeah, you're right." He then begins to look around, while I remain in my thoughts, wondering what happened.

"Umm, Xander?"

"Yeah… wait-"

We look at each other, now realizing why there were no cars.

We were in a forest.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" We both exclaim in confusion.

"Nido?"

We both turn to the new source of noise. I now believe I have gone insane. Because right in front of me, was a purple mouse like animal covered in little bumps and spikes. If my nearly unparalleled knowledge of Pokemon, something that does not exist in real life, is correct, it was a Nidoran, the male version.

A pokemon.

In real life.

A pokemon, in real life.

A pokemon in real life. Why is that sentence confusing me?

"Um...Xander, is it just me, or is there a Nidoran male in front of us?"

"...Marf?" I squeak out, my voice, and mind, failing me in shock.

We then, naturally, did the most logical thing anyone would do if they were in an area that was unfamiliar to them, with strange creatures that shouldn't exist, existing.

We ran like hell.


	2. Adjusting to a New World

**Xander POV**

"Haff...haff...please tell me I'm in a dream," Daniel pants to me, leaning against a large tree with his arms.

"Well this is one hell of a dream then," I remark. I was not tired since I was highly athletic, and did multiple sports, "you should work out more."

"Quit the sarcastic quips!"

"When hell freezes over."

"Then I'll get an icemaker!"

"...Really?" I remark skeptically at his weak retort. Daniel must be really shaken up. Me? Hah! Don't worry I'm flipping the hell out right now, but somebody's gotta keep a level head.

"...What do we do then?"

I turn to him, "Its obvious, isn't it?"

"What is?"

"We find the nearest civilization, get some pokeballs, and have fun!" I proclaim, hoping to lighten the mood. I found out that didn't work from a hard slap to the back of my head.

"Daniel! Wha-?"

"What about our _families_?!" He panicked, "They'll be worried sick about us! I have a brother who was expecting me at home today!"

"Eh, that's your problem," I tell him, shrugging, "I don't really care about my family."

Daniel roughly grabs my shirt, trying (and failing) to threaten me.

"This is no time for your sarcasm and indifference Xander!" he yells at me, "This is VERY serious! How do we get back? How do we-"

"Chill out." I say blankly, cutting him off. Of course, he did the opposite.

"HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME-"

"How do you expect to do anything if you're panicking and getting close enough to my face to kiss me?" I explain dryly. He takes a minute to process what I said.

*Huff* "Fine, you're right," he admits, much more calmly, also 'dropping' me and backing away, "But seriously, what should our course of action be?"

"I wasn't kidding at first," I explain to him, "We need to find the nearest center of civilization, see if…" I realize something, and I drop my backpack from my shoulders.

"Oh yeah...we have our phones…" he realizes, digging into his pockets and taking out his phone. I rummage through my bag, noticing all my papers are gone, binders included, textbooks as well. Oh well, if there _is_ a way out, I am _not_ taking it. Finally, I grab my flip phone, yeah, I'm old school.

I open my phone to try and text somebody...but-

"Hey! All my contacts and numbers are gone!" Daniel exclaims.

"Damn," I swear, "Mine too, let me try dialing the number."

No success.

"Well...I guess we find the nearest town or city then." Daniel concludes, out of ideas. For the first time, I am as well. I zip up my backpack, now only holding my tablet, some blank paper, some pencils, and my water bottle.

"I think we're in Kanto, possibly Route 1, if the Nidorans were anything to go by," I deduce, "we should try and head to Pallet Town."

"Good idea, Xander," Daniel agrees, "Let's head out."

* * *

So...not a good idea.

"You may be great with numbers and sports, Xander," Daniel begins, "but you are GOD AWFUL WITH DIRECTIONS!"

"Ah come off it, I don't have a map and compass, what more could I do?"

"...GAH! QUIT BEING RIGHT!"

"Never, now come on, I don't think we've seen that rock before"

"You said that with the last seven rocks," Daniel deadpans.

"Shut up!"

* * *

"So...what do you want your first catch to be?" I ask Daniel.

We gave up on trying to find a path out, so we're just aimlessly walking around. We just finished up an argument on what the best type is. I won with Steel types, their defense is amazing!

"Hmm…" Daniel thought hard.

"Careful, don't strain yourself." I quip. Cue the smack to the back of the head! _**SMACK!**_ Great! Right on schedule!

"Shut it, and the answer is Abra" I nod at his answer, while rubbing the area where Daniel hit me.

"Fair enough, Abra are great psychic Pokemon," I admit, "mine would probably be Eevee."

"Of course it would be," he drawled with an eye roll.

"Hey! Just because it isn't a dark type doesn't mean its bad!" I retort.

"I never said that!"

"Your tone implied it!"

"Shove off, Xander!"

We began bickering for quite some time. Pokemon were occasionally peeping out of the shadows to watch us, and by now, we just grew used to them.

"Besides, you just said you wanted a psychic type first!"

"Is somebody there?" The new, elderly voice stops us in our tracks. I nod to Daniel to ask for help, seeing as I don't raise my voice much without hurting my throat.

"Yeah! We're lost!" Daniel cries out. We hear some ruffling and after a few seconds, the bushes to our left shake, and out steps a man well in hIs 60's, if the grey hair was anything to go by. The man was also garbed with a lab coat.

"Ah! Hello boys, where were you headed before you got lost?" the man asks.

"Pallet Town," I say blankly.

"Oh! Well you're in luck!" the man exclaims, "I happen to be on my way back to Pallet Town as well, is it alright if you follow me?"

"Yes, we've been lost for two or three hours," Daniel quickly explains, "Any way to get to our destination is a way we'll take."

"Very well then, come, my boys, the night is soon to be upon us." He motions his hand to us in a 'follow' manner. It was also at his statement I realized how much time had passed. It was probably about six or seven at night. I put those thoughts aside, however, as I followed the man.

* * *

"What are your names?" The man asks.

"I'm Daniel Wood," my friend introduces himself, then gestures to me, "and this is my friend, Xander Bowman."

"Greetings," I respond, my tone dead. I have no desire to make any friends right now. Still panicking internally!

"I see, I am Samuel Oak, or as many others call, Professor Oak," The man formally introduces himself. I nod, my mind moving from panic to Pokemon strategies. Meeting Professor Oak was good, we can get our starters here. I'm probably gonna pick Bulbasaur, Leech Seed and Giga Drain is a personal favorite of mine.

"Oh! Well that's great we met you here then!" Daniel exclaims, causing the professor to raise an eyebrow.

"Why is that?"

"We were travelling over to become official trainers." I explain without emotion once more.

"Ah, I see, I'm afraid the Pokemon won't be ready for becoming starters for about a month," Professor Oak tells us sadly. I sigh, well so much for that.

"You could stay in my lab for the time being." The professor offers. I look over to Daniel and nod at him, as he was looking at me for confirmation.

"Yeah, that'll do"

"Splendid!" The professor claps his hands together, but then gives a questioning look, "You both seem to be about 15, why are you starting so late?"

"Very strict parents," I explain quickly, causing Daniel to glare at me. I knew Daniel wanted to immediately tell him, but it was best we waited for a while, before telling him.

"Ah, that has happened every once in a while," the professor nods his head, "where are you two from?" I quickly try and come up with a lie, but Daniel beats me to the chase.

"Viridian City," I glance at Daniel, who nods his head, apparently understanding what I am doing and why. Professor Oak nods at his answer, "I see, how much do you two know about Pokemon then?"

"A lot, I've memorized almost every Pokemon there is." I tell him, Daniel nods, he did the same back in his world. I don't say our world because this is my world now, I am never going back. After all, I was a loner, I didn't really have any friends besides Daniel.

"Really? Even Pokemon from other regions?"

Daniel nods, "Yeah, it's kind of overwhelming to be honest." I nod at this.

"Well then, do you think you could help me with my studies?" Professor Oak proposed, "You would be paid for your help."

"I, for one, would be glad to help," Daniel immediately agrees.

"Well, I need the money, and this would help out the Pokedex, and could possibly improve contact between regional professors in order to move information and confirm it throughout the world," I mutter to myself, analyzing the situation. After a minute of thinking, I come to my conclusion.

"Sure, why not?"


	3. A Month Later

**If I seem way to skilled for a normal person, it's understandable. I'm an Eagle Scout, I'm a track runner, I'm a straight A student, I know how to cook, I'm an exceptionally good manipulator, and I know a lot of survival skills. All of these are what I can **_**actually **_**do IRL. I do have my faults, and they are just as numerous.**

* * *

_**One Month Later**_

**Daniel POV**

"When will he ever wake up on time?" Professor Oak asked me, as we looked down at the oversleeping Xander.

"I'd be worried if he does," I begin, making Professor Oak raise an eyebrow, "Because if he does, something is most definitely wrong with the world." The professor chuckled at that.

"Very true, my boy!" He then covered his ears as I put my fingers to my mouth, as this was the only way to wake Xander up. I whistle, quite loudly. The desired effect was most certainly achieved.

"BWAAAGH!" Xander shouted as he sprang from the small bed and falling right onto the floor. Xander looked up at me and growled, which would have looked menacing, had he not been wearing white and black checkered pajamas.

"It has been a whole month, and I still haven't gotten rid of the urge to strangle you after you do that…"

"Now now," Professor Oak intercedes, "violence is not good for you, Xander." The boy sighed, "Fine...I assume Gary and Ash will be here soon?" The professor nodded.

"Alright then, could you please give me some space so I can change?"

We nod and exit the room.

* * *

**Xander POV**

Once I changed back into my normal outfit (Which I now have my coat buttoned at the top alone, with the zipper undone, so it looks sorta like a cloak), I exit my room.

"So… how much longer till Ash and Gary get here then?" I ask, as I stretch my arms and yawn.

"Good to see you up and about, my boy," Professor Oak greets me.

I warmed up to him after the first two weeks. Speaking of, we made about 12,000 P$ each. Professor Oak paid good money, especially because I helped him with some of the technological parts. I was _nowhere_ near as good as him, but he could work on the advanced programs while I did the basic formulas. Daniel helped out quite a bit when it came to the possible moves a Pokemon could learn, I remembered their descriptions and typings.

"Ash and Gary should be here at 9:00, which is in about ten minutes," the professor tells me, he then points at a machine on his desk, "I recently made coffee if you want some." I thank him and grab a mug of coffee, adding cream of course. I hate pure coffee, but cream and coffee? That's fine.

"So...what will your goals be as a trainer?" I nearly dropped my mug at the sudden question.

"I'm gonna travel the world, and try to meet every legend, and help any pokemon in need, no matter how big or small," Daniel answers. The professor nods.

"That is indeed a great goal Daniel, a great goal indeed."

Professor Oak turns to me and I have to think about my answer. After a few seconds I figure out how to word it.

"Honestly, just train with my Pokemon, and become as good of a trainer as I could possibly be, and if I get any fancy titles, well that's a plus." Professor Oak nods at my answer.

"Well said, my boy, well, I hope you stop by and call when you have the time!"

I chuckle at the professor.

"Don't worry Oak, we'll call you," Daniel assures. Professor Oak smiles, and he goes into another room.

"I'm here gramps!" a voice calls from the doorway, Daniel goes over and sees Gary.

"Hey Gary."

"Hey Daniel, hey Xander, ready to see the birth of the greatest trainer ever?" I smirk internally, time to knock down his ego a bit, after all, _I'm _the only one allowed to have a big ego.

"Sure! Where is he?" I remark, making Daniel chuckle, "I only see a rookie in front of me!" Gary fumes, but I hear his grandfather laughing at the blow to Gary's ego. I love roasting people.

"Just you watch!" Gary challenges.

"And listen to your constant bragging? Like heck!"

I feel Daniel place a hand on my coat covered shoulder, "Dude, chill, you don't want to kill him!" I laugh at that.

Professor Oak comes out of the room and into ours, carrying three pokeballs, each one with a different sticker. One a flame, another a water drop, and the last, a leaf.

"In each of these pokeballs, resides a different pokemon," the professor begins, as he sets the three pokeballs down on the table, "in- wait...where's Ash?" I turn to Daniel, and we both agree to remain quiet, as we remember Ash was late to this.

"I bet Ashy-boy got scared of seeing me! Hah!"

Slap in 3...2...1..._**SMACK**_. Damn, I'm getting good at predicting them!

"Hey!" Gary yelped as Daniel smacked him upside the head.

"Quit being egotistical Gary, we both know Ash would never be scared of you." Daniel scolded the young trainer-to-be.

"Daniel has a point Gary, and Daniel, please don't hurt Gary too much." Both Daniel and I chuckled at that.

"Oh well, I have an extra starter in case something like this happened, so let me restart," Professor Oak then cleared his throat.

"New trainers, in each of these pokeballs resides a different pokemon, in this one-" he points to the flame pokeball, "-we have the fire starter, Charmander." He moves over, "In this one-" he points to the water pokeball, "-we have the water starter, Squirtle." He moves over again, "and in this pokeball-" he points to the leaf pokeball, "-we have the grass starter, Bulbasaur."

The three of us nod in understanding.

"Gary, you may go first" Gary pumps his fists, and points to the pokeball containing the water starter, "I'll take Squirtle!" Professor Oak nods and hands him Squirtle's pokeball, as well as the Pokedex and some spare pokeballs, he already knows that the three of us know how to use the Pokedex.. He then turns to me.

"Bulbasaur," I say simply, he nods and hands me the same items as Gary, excluding the pokeball, as I got Bulbasaur's pokeball. I notice Daniel smirking, why?...Oh shit, curse my poor memory, I forgot I let him have the type advantage on me!

"Then I'll have Charmander." Professor Oak then hands him the pokeball and the same items he gave prior. Professor Oak stands back and clears his throat.

"You have made your choice, trainers. Now go, and fulfill your goals and dreams with your Pokemon at your side!"


	4. Rivalry Ignition

**Xander POV**

Daniel and I walked down Route 1, having a similar memory of getting lost.

"Hard to believe it's been a month since we got to this world, huh?"

"You know it Daniel, you know it…"

"Hey, we should let our pokemon out, let them walk too." I nod at his suggest, reaching for the pokeball on my belt, my coat rustling as I did so. I'm probably gonna take it off soon.

"C'mon out!" we shouted in unison, as we let out our starters. At my side materialised a stout green dinosaur on four legs, with a large a small bulb of the same color upon its back.

At Daniel's side, materialised an orange lizard that stood on two legs, at the tip of its tail flared a minor flame.

"Nice to meet you Charmander!" Daniel states, kneeling down to pet her head. Daniel had scanned Charmander, and discovered she was a girl. I kneel down to Bulbasaur.

"Hey, mind if I call you 'Foxglove?'" Bulbasaur tilted his head at the name, "Foxglove is a very cool looking plant, but at the same time, is extremely dangerous, and I have a feeling you'll perfectly match that description," I smile, "So whaddya say?" Bulbasaur thought for a minute, then gave his answer with a 'Saur!' with a nod of his head and a smile.

"Then it's great to meet you, Foxglove." my pokemon made a noise of approval at the sound of his new name. So I'm softer with creatures. Sue me.

"Hey Xander, wanna battle?" I turn and stand up, looking at Daniel, a smirk on his face. Charmander also looks quite confident, I look at Foxglove, who gives a 'Bulba!' in challenge. I already like Foxglove's attitude, always ready for a fight. For one of the few rare moments, I feel adrenaline build up in me. There is no way I'm passing up a chance for excitement!

"Sure, let's do this!" I challenge, pumping my fist, I'm gonna love this world!

Us and our Pokemon race to opposite sides of the path. If my memory serves right for once, a Bulbasaur should start out with **Growl**, **Tackle**, and **Vine Whip**.

"Charmander, start this off with **Ember**!"

"Dodge it, and use **Vine Whip** on the ground!"

The fire starter spits a small fireball from her mouth, in which Foxglove barely dodges by jumping to the right. The grass and poison pokemon then flicks two vines into the ground, creating a dust cloud over the field. Both pokemon are shielded from view behind it.

"Nice one Foxglove!"

"Charmander! Stay alert!"

"**Growl** Foxglove!"

I hear a slightly menacing...well...growl, from somewhere to the right of me. I'm pretty sure Daniel heard it too, but I can't see him.

"Dummy, we can hear that! Charmander, use **Scratch** to your left until you hit Bulbasaur!" I can make out the glowing claw of Charmander trying to hit Foxglove.

"Heh heh…" I chuckle, my small plan working, "Foxglove, as soon as you sense Charmander, use **Tackle**, then sweep her off her feet with **Vine Whip**!"

"Charmander! Quick, use **Growl**!" Nice save, Daniel. Guess he figured out my luring plan.

I hear another growl from the right of me, and I figure Charmander is getting close to Foxglove, I then hear a _**SLAM**_ and a _**SMACK**_. To my great satisfaction, my plan worked.

"Now, finish it with **Tackle**!"

"We aren't done yet Charmander, use **Ember** when it gets close!"

"Cancel the attack and put the momentum into a **Vine Whip**!"

I see the flash of fire through the dust cloud, and a grunt of pain, causing me to grimace. That turns into a smile though when Charmander is smacked out of the dust cloud, knocked out. The dust slowly clears away to reveal an injured Foxglove, whom I run over to as Daniel runs over to Charmander.

I hear Daniel speak words of encouragement to Charmander, but I pay them little mind.

"Hey Foxglove, you did great for your first battle!" I praise, squatting down to see him without looking down on him. Foxglove musters a proud, "BulbaSAUR!" which I chuckle at, I pat him on the head and he flinches slightly. I move my hand to reveal a burn mark.

"Guess that last Ember did a number on ya, huh?" Foxglove shook his head, refusing to admit it was hurt. Guess he's just as proud as I am.

"We're still healing you up when we get to Viridian," I tell him, "do you want to go in your pokeball for now though?" I suggest, showing his pokeball. Foxglove nods, and he taps the pokeball with his mouth, engulfing him with a red light that is sucked into the ball.

"Man… nice job Xander!" I turn and stand towards Daniel.

"Yeah, Foxglove did great!" I comment, still proud of my pokemon for doing so well on his first battle, as well as overcoming a type advantage!

"Nice trick with the luring in the dust, what made you think of that?" he asks as we begin walking down the road. I notice the sky beginning to become cloudy, but I put that to the back of my mind as I answer Daniel's question.

"I knew that in a straight up fight, the odds were against Foxglove," I begin to explain, "So the first thing I thought of was to decrease the visual of the field, as a Bulbasaur as better hearing than sight," Daniel nods in understanding, and motions for me to continue, "I then got the idea to _trick_ you into thinking I was just lowering attack, as to get a clear hit, but you figured it out in time to reduce the damage."

"Clever, what did you think of me, then?"

"Not bad at all, Charmander definitely got Foxglove good with that final Ember, I think Foxglove is at maybe...two thirds health?"

"I don't really care about that, Charmander did very well for her first battle, and like hell I'll abandon her just because he lost to a grass type," Daniel growled at that, "If I do see that bastard Damien, who literally did that, I'll pummel him."

I nod, "Good idea, but we have to let Ash encounter him first, don't want to screw with the world _too_ much." Daniel lets out a sigh, "Fine."

"Hey, only I do the moody 'Fine.''s, alright?"

"Really?"

"Why, yes. Really."

"You are insufferable."

"Do you want me to recite pi again?" I laugh at his horrified expression from my threat.

"OHGODSNOBYE!" he shouts as he runs ahead of me.

"H-hey! Wait for me!" I call, racing up to catch him, stuttering because I was laughing so hard. I notice it begins to get stormy, and I sense rain coming, which shocked me that it hasn't rained yet. I have awful luck with weather…

"Hey...have we already made it to the edge of the forest?" Daniel asks me, suddenly halting. I take in our surroundings more, yeah, it definitely looks like the edge, the trees are thinning out quite fast, and I think I see the road to Viridian up ahead.

"Shall we race there?" Daniel challenges, with a smirk on his face, I give him one of my 'Really?' stares.

"I'm a track runner with a personal record of 13:01 for a 100 yard dash, and a 27:29 for a 200 yard dash, I've done cross country with a personal record of 14:00:01 for 2 miles. Yet you think you even stand a _chance_ of beating me?"

"...God dammit."

"3,2,1 and I'm off!" I suddenly shout, racing forward.

I hear his indignant cries from afar, "You dick!"

I make it to the road in about a minute, which was about 400 yards away, so that was pretty good timing!

"I...really hate you sometimes…" I then notice he calls Charmander out.

"Um, Daniel, its about to rain…" I tell him, wondering why he would have a fire type in the rain.

"I know," he states simply, then he kneels down to face his pokemon eye-to-eye, "We're gonna walk in the rain, alright? We should try and build up your resistance to water attacks, if it gets too much for you, let me know, but this will be a great way to get stronger."

Charmander thinks for a second.

"Mander!" she cries in a challenging way, probably saying, "Bring it on!"

Daniel smiles, "That's the spirit!" he then stands up and looks at me, "You gonna let out Foxglove?" I shrug, and let him out. He gives me a weird look, as if saying, 'I thought I was staying in there?'

"Charmander's training against water, and while your resistant to it, I thought it might help the burn on your head." Foxglove just shrugs with his front shoulders and begins walking, with me following close behind.

"Like trainer like pokemon…" Daniel says.

"Huh?"

"You both have seemingly no real care about yourselves, but you like a good fight and are _very_ proud."

"Hm...good point."

"Pidgey!" we both turn to the new sound, and by the edge of the trail we see a Pidgey with an injured wing, I walk over to it, and slowly kneel down, as to not startle it.

"Hey, want some help?" I ask softly, the Pidgey lets out a weak cry, and I now see some scratches and bruises on it...what the? I reach into my new bag, which hung from my right shoulder and rested on my left hip, like the Kalos bag, and pull out a potion.

"This might sting a bit, okay?" The Pidgey nods weakly in understanding. I spray the potion on the wing and it lets out a sharp "GEY!", I also apply some to the other wounds covering its body.

"Hey...I did what I could, but a Nurse Joy could do it better…" The Pidgey paid no mind to myself-depreciation of my skills and flew onto my shoulder.

"Pid gey pidge!" it chirped in happiness, and I smile.

"Hey, were you attacked by another pokemon Pidgey?" Daniel asks, the Pidgey nods.

It then turns to me, and lightly taps the side of my head. I feel something rustling from my bag and I see Foxglove pulling a pokeball out, and pointing to it with his vines. The Pidgey nods and taps it with his beak, sucking him in and instantly catching him.

"...Alright then." I say simply, still confused by the sudden capture, Foxglove hands me the Pidgey's new pokeball, and I let it out. I now just notice it's been raining lightly…

When he comes out he flies around a small bit before resting on my left shoulder, kinda like a parrot to a pirate. What would be a good nickname for Pidgey? Ah, I got it!

"Hey, Pidgey, can I call you Jet? Because I'll help you train to become the fastest bird pokemon anyone has ever seen!" Pidgey immediately nods to the name, and I smile once more.

"Well then, welcome to the team, Jet."


	5. Rockets

**Xander POV**

Daniel and I had just gotten to the Viridian Pokemon Center. We had to go through Officer Jenny, who suspected us to be Rockets. Yeah, the guys with their pokemon out are most _definitely_ criminals. Charmander had adamantly stayed out in the rain, much to Daniel's pride, and Charmander had lightly roared in victory when she got inside.

"Could you heal our pokemon Nurse Joy?" Daniel asks the pink haired woman. She smiles at him and nods, holding out a tray in which we place our pokemon in, having recalled them a minute before we asked her.

"Please wait in the lobby while we heal your pokemon," she cheerfully requests. We nod and I move to take a seat in one of the red comfy chairs, while Daniel had run over and jumped onto a couch, landing in a relaxed, lying down position, with his head propped up on the arm of the couch.

"So...how successful do you think my training idea for Charmander is?" I turn and ponder.

"Hmm...it hasn't rained that hard yet, and we were only out there for another half hour...judging the average power of water attacks, which is about 78 on a scale of 100…" I begin to crunch the numbers in my head, something that separated me from everyone else in my math classes; I've literally trained my mind to process numbers at a faster rate than most people, so I can do most problems in my head somewhat fast.

"Are you _seriously_ doing every single goddamn possible equation to calculate a simple good or bad question?" Daniel asks me skeptically, "It doesn't really even need the numbers!"

"Shush...carry the 4..." Daniel dramatically throws his hands in the air and sighing in exasperation. It was probably raining about two inches… and Charmander isn't that large of a target to hit...so resulting in… let's say 348 drops a minute… 20880 an hour… half hour so 10440...let's say each water drop deals 0.1 attack…

"Dude, just answer the da-" I wave him off. 0.1 times 10440 is 1044...1044 power over 30 minutes…34.8 per minute...0.058 a decisecond, as that is the time for a moment of impact...,but due to continuous exposure increases by 150%... meaning…!

"Your small training with Charmander probably boosted her resistance to water-based attacks by 8.7% in those 30 minutes!" I exclaim, finally done with my calculations, "So you're training regime is probably better than most!"

I then chuckle with embarrassment, as Daniel had fallen asleep…

"Mr. Bowman, Mr. Wood, please come to the front desk to retrieve your pokemon," Nurse Joy announces over a PA system. I nudge Daniel, who begins to stir, but not wake up..._Revenge time?_ I nod, Revenge Time, I agree.

What was that you ask? Well...I may or may not be slightly insane… and I may or may not talk to myself in my own head...I'm an introvert alright?

Anyways...I bring my fingers into a snapping position, and move my hand to his ear. I then do what Daniel has dubbed, 'Whip Snapping', right in his ear. He jumps up flailing, then glares at me, "Dude?! What the hell!?" Yeah. When I 'Whip Snap', it's pretty damn loud, like his dumb 'Train Whistle'...holy hell is _that_ loud.

"Pokemon. Nurse Joy."

"Oh. Could have nudged me…"

"Tried that."

"Oh…" I sigh and we walk up to the front to collect our pokemon, before we can ask to rent a room to stay the night, however, the doors burst open. I turn swiftly to find a raven haired trainer running towards us, an injured Pikachu in his arms.

"Nurse Joy! Please help!" he cries out, clearly in distress, now that I've gotten a better look..wait...Ash?!

"Ash?! What the hell happened?!" Daniel asks frantically.

"Flock of Spearows...bad thunderstorm...Pikachu drained himself…" Ash was too distressed to form proper sentences. I put a hand on his shoulder, "Chill." Ash takes a breath.

"I was trying to catch a Spearow...but things went wrong and its entire flock went after us, Pikachu practically drained himself in order to fend them off, but then the huge thunderstorm came in and made things worse."

"Sounds like a _shocking_ experience." I state simply.

Daniel slaps the back of my head, "Dude, show _some_ pity...and bad pun."

"Sorry, used to much pity on you and your sorry life." I snickered, causing Ash to laugh as well.

"Why you-"

"HEY!" we turn to see a red haired girl who was flat as a board, and positively pissed off.

"What got her panties in a twist?" I ask Daniel, who sighs and whispers, "That's Misty, remember? Ash fried her bike?" "Oh yeah…" Now that I look closer, she _was_ carrying a busted bike.

Misty storms up to Ash, "You fried my bike! You'll fi-" I grab her by the back of her shirt and lift her up. Since she's practically 5'2", and I'm 5'9", it was easy. Also, I've done a lot of physical work throughout my life, and that made me fairly strong. I can lift about 150 lbs with both my arms.

"Why you-! PUT ME DOWN!"

"Hey, kid, quit shouting. You're hurting our ears, and the kid you're yelling at had to get here 'cause his Pikachu's in critical condition."

Misty stops fighting against me, "Wait, your pokemon was hurt?"

Ash nods, "Yeah…"

I put Misty down, "See? Maybe you shouldn't blow up on somebody until you know both sides."

Daniel sighed, "Also...don't act like such a brat, seriously."

"Hey! Who you calling brat!?" she shouted. Holy shit how loud can she get?

"You." Daniel replies simply. I was about to scold him. **I** was the dry one in our comedy duo!

"What do you mea-!" Misty was cut off again.

"Stop shouting."

"How about you quit be-"

"Also, shut up."

"You're asking for it!"

"Yes, I am asking for you to shut up." Daniel nods.

"Hey! Only I do sarcastic deadpans!" I finally intervene, making sure he doesn't permenantly steal my dialogue style, I hate it when people try to imitate others, it's so annoying.

"Butt out!" the two yell at me.

"I wouldn't cross those two if I were you Xander…" Ash whispers to me. Maybe he isn't as dumb we originally thought? Or maybe he can see the practical lightning between Daniel and Misty's glaring eyes. Probably the latter…

"By the way Ash, how did you anger the Spearows?" I notice Ash chuckle and tub the back of his neck, "Erm...I threw a rock at it?" I just give him a 'wtf' look. Before I could say anything, and before Daniel or Misty tore somebody's head off, the front entrance exploded, covering the entire area with smoke.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth! Dat's right!"

"Who are you clowns?" Misty asks violently. Before I can explain anything, Nurse Joy intervenes, "They're Team Rocket, a group of pokemon thieves!"

"Heh...thieves? That's low…" a low and rough voice comes through, and when the dust clears, two white rockets and a meowth are seen between two black rockets. Great. I hear a cry of 'Pika!' and I turn to see Pikachu going over to Ash's side.

"Ash, redhead, take care of the two in the middle," Daniel suddenly orders, making sure not to say Misty's name, "Xander and I will take care of the stragglers." I nod my agreement, and smirk in challenge.

"Huh? You two brats are gonna take us on? Hah! How foolish!" the female unnamed grunt spoke, with the other grunt going over two her side, "Time to teach you two punks a painful lesson!"

"Go! Zubat/Rattata!"

Daniel and I just look at each other, and gain a dark smirk.

"Shall we raise some hell Daniel?" I ask.

"Some hell we shall raise indeed," He answers with a menacing grin.

"Charmander, let's go!"

"Jet, It's time to battle!"

Our opponents made the first move, with some very stupid commands in my opinion.

"Rattata, **Quick Attack** on the bird!"

"Zubat, **Leech Life** and the lizard!"

"Dodge Jet/Charmander!"

Charmander merely jumped out of the way of the two pokemon while Jet flew into the air, causing the two attacks to collide with each other. How foolish of these grunts…

"Charmander! Use **Ember** on Zubat!"

"Jet, **Gust** on the Ember, make it large!"

The grunts didn't even have time to counter or dodge as the small flame that was spit from Charmander's mouth rapidly expanded with size from the incoming excess oxygen. The flame engulfed the two pokemon, and when the dust cleared, they were out.

"Grr...you'll pay for th-"

"Blow 'em away Jet!" I order, said pokemon flaps his wings hard with a good ol' "PidGEY!"

Daniel and I watched in satisfaction as we saw the two rockets meet the horizon. Also, the battle felt _really _anticlimactic, were they just that weak? Or was I just too lazy to expand on it? Probably the former.

I also watched as Ash and Misty took out the Trio of rockets with the same ease as Daniel and I did with our rockets...yeah, they're just weak.

"Nice job you two!" Daniel comments, apparently forgetting about his feud- no, wait, he's glaring slightly at Misty, nevermind.

"So...did the Meowth actually talk?" Ash asks, I shrug and close my eyes.

"Eh, don't know, don't care," I open one eye and look at the pokemon beside Ash, "That's one heckuva Pikachu there...you better train him right," I advise him. He nods and states that he would, in a very determined manner.

"By the way, I must say that easy fight was a-"

"Xander," Daniel warns me, cutting me off, "I swear to whatever god there is-"

"-_blast_," I finish, smirking at him, and everybody groaned, causing me to chuckle. That is, until I felt Daniel swing his arm at me, which I blocked, "If you're going to hit me, try somewhere n-OOF!" he punched me in the gut.

"Thanks for the advice."

Ash was chuckling slightly, "Are they always like this?" I hear Misty ask him, and Ash just nods, "Yeah, every day since a month ago when they came to Pallet Town."

"Well...we should probably rest here for the night," Daniel suggests, "and then tomorrow we should make for Pewter City, that good with you X-man?"

"I'm cool with that," I agree, then I give him my infamous death glare, "_and if you ever call me anything other than my name again; I'll break your arms_." Daniel gulped and raised his hands in surrender, because he knows that I actually _can _do that. Not easily, but I can. I think even Ash and Misty backed up on that threat.

"Sorry...I'll just go reserve a room," Daniel mutters as he quickly runs off.

"You seem like a bully, whoever you are," Misty comments snarkily.

I chuckle, "Nah, I just hate being called nicknames. I got a name, and I want people to use it, not some cheap nickname," I explain to her, "Most of the time I just laze around, waiting for something interesting to happen."

"Hmm, still think your mean."

"Don't care, I'm gonna check on Daniel." I turn and walk towards the front desk.

"Hey, Xander?" I turn back to see Ash walking up to me, "Mind if we come along?" I shrug.

"Fine. Go ahead, you'll need to get to Pewter City anyway."

"Wait," Misty intervenes, "I don't really know any of you! I know Ash since I just battled with him, but I don't know any of you!"

"Oh, sorry Misty," Ash mutters sheepishly. He moves his hands near the Water Trainer, "Misty, this is Xander," he swings his hands over to me, "Xander, this is Misty," he swings his hands back. He then points over to Daniel, "The guy in the red and gray jacket is Daniel," he turns back to Misty, "We've known each other for about a month, ever since Xander and Daniel came to Pallet Town and helped out Professor Oak."

"Yeah, that's it with our history," Daniel intrudes, holding out a key to Misty, "now, it's getting late, we should all rest up. I heard you were joining Ash so I got you a separate key."

Misty nodded, then went to her room. I went to the room Daniel rented, snatching the key with a small, "Hey!" from Daniel, who followed me along with Ash to said room.


	6. New Captures

**Xander POV**

"AAARRRGGH!" I shout in pain as I fall off my bed, my eardrums ringing like a phone targeted by telemarketers. Stupid train whistle of his...

"You're fault for sleeping in, _again_," he states bluntly. I glare at him

"I like my sleep, dammit!"

"Like it? Hah! If 'sleep' had a body, you would screw it!"

"...No comment," I say simply, blinking.

"...Wait...really?" He tilted his head at me.

"No! You dumbass! I was trying to be comical!"

"Oh…" I shake my head at Daniel's response. I then turn to Ash, who must be the god of sleep, because how on earth did he _not_ hear Daniel's train whistle? Pikachu certainly did, and was glaring daggers at Daniel.

I sighed as I went to the bathroom to change and start the day.

* * *

"When...when will she quit whining?!" Daniel whisper-yelled to me. I shrug, but to be honest, I can only take so much before my patience runs out. Misty had _literally_ been complaining about the amount of bug types for the past _hour and a half!_

"Hey, Ash, plannin' on catching something here?" I ask him blankly, he nods, "Yeah, a Caterpie and maybe a Pidgey." I shrug, and hold up my newest team member's Pokeball,"I already got a Pidgey, his name is Jet."

"Woah! Really?" I raise an eyebrow at his surprise, "Yeah… they're not hard to catch… I just happened to come across Jet and I helped him, he then joined me, end of story." Ash nodded and looked to his shoulder, where Pikachu currently sat, "I'm pretty sure Pikachu hated me when we first met…" Pikachu shrugged, and I laughed, my voice sounding sightly harsh from yelling at Daniel earlier.

"Appears he doesn't care about those actions!" I note, causing Ash to chuckle lightly for a second.

"Can we take a break? I'm tired!" I hear Daniel's teeth gritting in frustration at Misty's complaint.

"Fine," I call back. Normally I wouldn't, but I was _not_ in the mood to help Daniel hide a body. Seriously though, Daniel might lose it with Misty…

I swing my bag to my front as I sit down on the roots of a nearby tree. I then let out Foxglove and Jet (who probably should have been out during the walk to train endurance, my bad), so they could stretch their legs and/or wings. With that done, I do the one thing I love most in _any_ world; fall straight asleep.

* * *

**Daniel POV**

I am really annoyed that Xander let Ms. Whinesalot have a break, but at least she stopped complaining, I just hope Xander doesn't fall asleep, wait. I turn to where he sat, and he had already fallen asleep. Dear god, his and his narcophilia. For those who don't understand, _narcophilia_ is an unofficial word used to describe someone who has an abnormal love for sleeping, this is not to be confused with _necrophilia_. That's just creepy.

"Does...Xander always sleep?" I hear Misty ask.

"Yes," Ash and I replied sighed in unison, clearly shocking the redhead.

"I may have only known them for a month, but Xander's asleep almost _all_ the time," Ash states, gesturing to the sleeping form of...oh gods no.

"Did...his pokemon _also_ get his sleeping habit?!" I shout in shock, referencing the fact that Xander slept against the tree, with his Bulbasaur sleeping at his side, and his Pidgey sleeping on his head. I hear Pikachu laughing from Ash's shoulder at my shocked expression.

"So...how are we gonna wake him up now?" Ash asks. I turn my palms up in an 'I got nothing' gesture, "No clue, I could do my whistle, but I don't want to piss off his pokemon…"

"Fair enough, guess we'll be having a break for a whi-" Ash was cut off from a high pitched scream from Misty, who had jumped about a mile away from her original sitting spot, "BUG!"

I sighed, then brightened, I forgot Misty hated bugs...and I think there's a chance for a certain bug flying type to show up here...hehehe. I watch as Ash catches the Caterpie, in an oddly more efficient manner than I can recall...ah well.

I stand up as he does his victory pose while saying, "I caught a Caterpie!" I chuckle lightly at the sight. I begin to walk into the forest, calling out Charmander, "I'll be out looking for pokemon," I tell them as I walk in, "if Xander wakes up, please try to prevent him from falling back asleep."

* * *

I threw my pokeball once more, hoping this time it dings. Charmander was running out of energy from such a long battle, and I can't blame her, since we've been fighting that dang pokemon for about an hour!

*Ding!*

I pumped my fist with a "Yes!". Dear god that was rough, I should probably take a few of Xander's potions to heal up Charmander and my new addition. I whistle lightly for Charmander and she limps over to me. Man, she must be worse than I thought, "Hey, you did good, rest for now, okay?" She weakly nods before getting hit by the red light and sucked into the pokeball.

As I walk back to the area we're currently resting at, I hear Ash's voice, "Alright! I caught a Pidgeotto!" "Pika pika!"

"Congrats, Ash," I tell him as I come into view.

"Heh, thanks Daniel!" the raven haired beginner replies.

I turn to where Sleepy, well...slept, when I left, and found he had disappeared. Misty must have noticed my raised eyebrow.

"He woke up and went off to train for a bit,"the redhead explained, "Every few minutes you'll hear some kind of noise from where he went." I nodded, "Thank you for finally being of use," I compliment her, while making it sound like an insult at the same time.

"Why you-!" I heard a rush of wind and hopped backwards just in time to see a large mallet head slam to where I was a second ago. I whistle, "Damn...that's some swing you got there." This did not help apparently.

Misty shouted in rage as she kept trying to hit me with that mallet. Key word being 'tried'. She never hit me, after all, Xander and I sparred quite a bit in martial arts, so I knew a thing or two about dodging strikes, especially Xander's Crescent Axe Kick...he was able to break a piece of wood 3 inches thick!

Thankfully, those Crescent Axe Kicks acted very similarly to a mallet, which is why I am so good at dodging these swings of Misty's. Speaking of the fire red water trainer, she was panting from swinging so much.

"I knew Daniel pissed someone off," rang a monotone voice. All three of us turn to see Xander, his black jacket now unbuttoned, but still hanging from his shoulders. I also noticed that the bag that hid under the jacket had some scratches and marks on it...actually…

"The hell did you do Xander?" I asked him, "You look like you fought your pokemon yourself!" I was answered with a blank stare from my rival/friend, I sighed, knowing what that stare meant, "You are insane…"

"I know," he responds dryly. I crack a smirk from our inside joke of Xander being completely bonkers.

"Wait...is Xander _actually_ insane?" Misty asks in fear, backing away. I sigh again… I should probably explain ti her why we do this, since Xander doesn't like talking about those things himself. Chuckling under my breath I begin, "Xander is technically labelled as a sociopath-"

"Daniel!" Xander hissed at me with a glare. Motioning to the creeped out stares from the two younger kids.

"They have the right to know, otherwise you could be called a threat." I whisper to him.

Xander sighed, "Fine." He turned to the two, "I don't really care about much, alright? I'm just barely a sociopath because I don't care about much at all, but I don't manipulate people. Don't ask why I'm like this. The term of 'insane' was just used as a joke for me being careless enough to use myself as my Pokemon's training partner/target."

"Why do you act like this?" Misty asks me, surprising me slightly with the concern in her voice. Before Xander answered, Ash spoke.

"From what I know, Xander's always been a rough guy, but is pretty funny. Always has been the month he's been in Pallet Town."

I shook my head, they should know something about my friend's past, and this hopefully gain their trust, "Actually, Xander was once-"

"AAAAND Story time STOPS here!" He cuts me off, glaring dangerously at me. I gulp as he turns and walks ahead. I see Ash and Misty looking at me, as if asking to continue. I shake my head.

"I crossed some lines of his… I forgot he hates being talked about…"

They nod, frowning slightly though, and I could see their concern for my friend.

* * *

**Xander POV**

I really don't like it when people know my backstory. I don't care if I was bullied, I HATE being looked at as if I'm some sort of tragedy! As long as he doesn't mention _that_, he may live to see tomorrow. I unhook Foxglove's pokeball, and stare at it. "If I have to go back to the old world...I may just go through with it," I mutter.

"We're back!" I turn to see Daniel waving at me. I sigh and motion him to hurry it up as I put Foxglove's ball back. I hear the slamming footsteps of the three trainers grow louder as they run up to me.

"C'mon, let's try to get a little farther before we set up camp."

"Umm...do any of us know how to camp though?" Misty asked in response to my question. I heard Daniel sigh, "I know how to, Ash knows how to," his voice begins to have a playful edge, "not sure about Xander-" I cut him off with a slap to the back of his head, much to his annoyance.

"I know how to camp, I've done it over 50 times in my life, and you've been with me several of those times," I growl. I ease up on my expression and sigh, "Sorry, still trying to cope with it, ya know?" I tell Daniel, and he nods, "I held it off for you, now I'm getting hit with it."

"Held what off?" Ash asked, Daniel and I shook our heads. "Sorry, that's too personal for us."

"Are you just gonna leave us in the dark about everything?!" Misty shouted angrily, Daniel glares at her, and she flinches. Not surprising, Daniel is easily pissed off by people who think they're above others, and his glares are quite scary.

"We only met you yesterday, yet you expect us to tell out life stories?" Daniel asks, with a dangerous edge to his tone. Misty quiets down, "Sorry…" Daniel nodded, "Good."

"It's gotten too dark now," I tell them, "I have my own tent, do you all have one?"

I sigh as all three of them shake their heads, "Zut." **(Pronounced: Zewt, means 'Darn' or 'Damn' in French)**

"What did you just say?" Misty asks, I smirk slightly. "Sorry, please pardon my _french_." Daniel groans at that, while the two non-otherworldly beings were confused.

"I'm not gonna explain it to you," Daniel tells them, "and its better that you don't know."

"Anyways...I have my tent, you three get to fend for yourself."

"Wait... WHAT?!" "Chu!?"

I laugh at their expressions as I pull out my tent from my bag. It was a small 1 man tent, that condensed into a 3"x1.5"x1.5", and I could comfortably sleep in it, but I decide to be nice today...actually, I'll need to get up early anyways.

"I'm kidding, I'll play fair and sleep outside too." They raise their eyebrows at that. I chuckle, "What? There are enough trees around I don't really need to use a tent." I then begin to climb a tree, much to their confusion.

"I'll sleep up here, G'night."

* * *

**Daniel POV**

Xander, dear lord is he a character. Once he clonked out, I decided to sleep near the tree he was in, everyone else having somewhere similar. AKA by a tree. Welp, might as well try to sleep…

…

…

…

…

...iel…

...daniel…

...wake the fuck up Daniel…

…

…

...screw it…

_**SMACK**_**.**

Before I could shout in pain at my sudden awakening, a hand covers my mouth. It was still dark as hell, but I knew it was Xander.

"We need to move, we're not supposed to be here, remember what _he_ said?"

I nod, and he removes his hand, "Yeah… I know, 'Don't help the Chosen One to much, if he gets to dependant on you it could ruin the timeline'." I finish. Xander sighs.

"Yeah, as much as I like it, we need to press on."

"And get to the league before him? So we can keep an eye on him?"

"Yes."

"That the real reason why you didn't set up your tent?" I ask suspiciously.

"Yes, now let's get going, if I woke up on time for once, we should be able to get to Pewter City by dawn if we jog," Xander explained to me, as he pulled out his pokeballs, "I'd send your pokemon out once we get about a few yards away, that way they can jog with us."

"Good idea."

We then turned to Misty and Ash, and I noticed a note staked near Ash's feet. I assume Xander wanted to make sure they didn't worry. "C'mon!" my friend whisper-yelled, I turned and nodded, and we both began jogging to Pewter City.

"Foxglove! Jet! Speed and Endurance Training!"

"Charmander! Scyther! Speed training!"

As we let them out I saw Xander turn to me, "When did you...catch a Scyther?" that little break was when Xander breathed during his turnovers. **(Term for runners, the pace at which you step and breath at the same time)**

"To...day...why?"

"Just curious...nothing else"

"Al...right...then." Yeah, I am nowhere near as good as Xander in athletics. I just hope we get a chance to rest before the gym battle...


	7. Easy Win

**Daniel POV**

Dawn was beginning to shine over the horizon, as Xander, Foxglove, Jet, Charmander, Scyther, and I (Boy that was a long list!) made it into Pewter City. I hope the gym is open now, I really don't want to wait.

"You say something Daniel?" Xander turns to me, as we finally stopped. I scrunch my eyebrows and shake my head. Xander shrugs, nonchalantly. "A'ight then, just coulda sworn I 'eard ya say somethin'."

I raise my eyebrow, gaining a look of confusion, "And when the hell did you get that Southern accent?"  
"Eh? Oh, sorry about that," my friend apologized as we recall our pokemon, "It slips out every once in awhile, I had family down south." I took notice of his wording.

"Had? Are they dead?" Xander shook his head.

"Nope, but they aren't in this world...in fact, I don't have any family in this world."

"You're going to go back when we're done with...whatever needed to be done...right?"

"_No. Way. In. Hell._" Xander growled, and I clearly saw deadly finality in his eyes. I step back, startled. He looks away in shame, "Sorry, but...I know what he offered, but I'm staying here. Now let's prepare for the gym."

I nod, and I mentally kept a reminder to _never_ ask that question again.

Because I know he wouldn't change that answer, even if it would kill him.

* * *

Turns out! The gym was closed.

Great.

Xander said it wouldn't open till 8:30, and its 7:48, according the clock in the Pokemon Center lobby I'm currently sitting in. Xander had gone back to training, and refused to let me watch, stating, "You'll see it, if it works."

Damn that cryptic bastard!

I sighed, Charmander was probably around level 10 by now, and Scyther probably 20. I'm not gonna use Scyther, mainly because he has a 4 times weakness to rock types. Charmander, however, should be close to learning a certain move…

I grab her pokeball from my belt, "Time to train Charmander!" I announce as she appears in front of me, and gives me a challenging smirk. I return the smirk and we walk out of the Pokemon Center. I look around, making sure I have my own area so I don't disturb Xander, because he is _not _someone you want to piss off. The cunning genius is extremely talented...and has the lack of moral to go through with most things.

"Charmander, I want to see if you can learn **Metal Claw**," I explain to her, and she nods, "try smashing that rock over there," I point to a medium sized rock, about the size of one of those big bouncy ball thingies. You know what I'm talking about right? Ah forget it.

Charmander nods to me and she charges the rock, and brings her claw down...to no avail. She keeps repeating the process, and nothing is happening.

"Hmm…" I try to think up of something. I'm not stupid, but Xander is certainly smarter than me...actually, he seems to be great at a lot of things. Am...I just a dead weight to him? He's easily more talented than me...

"Char!" I hear her cry angrily, I lift my head up to see Charmander glaring at me, then back at the rock.

"I'm thinking of something, give me some time," I tell her absentmindedly.

Seriously though, Xander would know exactly what to do in this situation...he's a straight A student, a skilled athlete, an Eagle Scout back in our word, and is already proven to be a natural at battling...maybe I am just a dead weight…

"Char?" I come out of my thoughts temporarily to see my starter looking at me worriedly.

"Sorry girl, its just..I got something on my mind," the orange lizard like pokemon tilted her head in confusion, "Sorry, but, I feel so much like a drag to Xander, he's always one of the top people...everywhere. He constantly achieves everything, and despite being a sociopath, he easily gets people to follow him and he doesn't even realize it! Maybe we should stay behind, we're just gonna hold him back…"

"MANDER CHAR!" she exclaimed in fury, I instantly jump back, my eyes wide at her sudden outburst.

"Man char, manderchar charmander char char mander char!" she...she scolded me?! I'm too shocked to realize I don't understand what she's saying.

"She's right you know."

"Huh?!" I eloquently exclaim as I turn to see the coat wearing trainer himself, his expression completely unreadable. "What do you mean she's right? We can't even understand her!"

"I may not know what she's saying, but I know what she's _trying_ to say."

"Quit being cryptic!"

"She means, 'You're a fool for thinking you're worse than me, and that I'm perfect, you have your own talents that easily beat my own'," Xander told me, his gaze never wavering on me. I turn to Charmander and she nods, her arms crossed.

"What do you mean, 'I'm a fool'?" I ask, confused at what's going on. Xander sighs, his expression becoming darker, and his hair shadowing his eyes as he drops his head.

"You already know of my...rocky, past. You also know how terrible I am at navigation, but that's not my point." I am beyond confused right now.

"My point is, you know how I have emotional problems? Sleeping problems? Eating problems?" I nod slowly, trying to piece what he's trying to say together. He continues on, "They are all caused by the same thing; my inability to care." I let out a noise of confusion.

"What do you mean?" I ask him. Xander suddenly looks up, and then looks away, "Sorry, I said too much, I only said this because I _know_ I am not perfect. I'm only a useful shell. Now, try to figure out how to do...whatever you were trying to do before I heard you say 'I'm such a drag to Xander'."

I wave my hands in complete confusion, "Wait...what? What the heck are you talking about?"

"Nothing...Just thought I'd ease your worries about you being a drag to me." I tilt my head in confusion, causing Xander to sigh. "I may be a dick, but I'm loyal to a fault. I can't watch my friend go into depression without trying to do something about it. Now go back to your training."

"I can assume you aren't helping?" I state, trying to figure _what_ the _hell_ is going on.

"You're pokemon, you're problem, keep in mind we got about half an hour left." I nod slowly, and he walks back to the Pokemon Center.

I turn to back to Charmander, who had apparently fallen asleep during Xander's confusing spiel. I shake my head in an attempt to get my mind back on track. Now, let's see what I can think of… wait, I might just have an idea…

"Hey, Charmander," She looks up at me tiredly, "I think I have an idea for you to learn **Metal Claw**," she jumps up, suddenly alert and ready to train. I chuckle at this, and I tell her my plan.

"Alright, imagine your claw as hard as steel, put all your energy into that idea." Charmander nods and begins to concentrate, her claw now being held up by her other claw. After a few seconds, a metallic sheen began to form on her claw.

"Alright girl! Now try and smash that rock!" Charmander grinned as she charged the rock, and swung her claw at it, and we both cheered as it shattered.

"Nice one Charmander!"

"Mander!"

We're definitely ready now.

* * *

"We've come to challenge the gym!" I announce in a very grand tone, much to Xander's chagrin. He doesn't like making too much of a scene when he tries to appear formal. The entire room was dark, probably to intimidate new trainers, which doesn't work on me!

"I see," speaks a voice from the back, "what are your names?"

"Daniel Wood, from Pallet Town!" I shout back in excitement, my first gym battle is near!

"Xander Bowman, also from Pallet Town." Xander's voice is monotone. Guess he's back to being his normal, neutral self.

"Alright then," I hear the voice, who I know is Brock, snap his fingers, and the lights come on to reveal an arena covered in sand and rocks, as well as the squinty-eyed and tanned rock gym leader. "I am Brock Slate, Gym Leader of Pewter City. Who will challenge me first?"

I'm pushed forward suddenly, I turn to glare at Xander, but he only smirks and gives me a thumbs up.

"Very well, Daniel," I see Brock turn to the side, "Forrest, could you please ref?" a younger boy, with a very similar appearance to Brock, nod and walk up to the side of the rocky arena.

"Since there are two of you, and I only have two pokemon ready, it will be a one-on-one battle for both of you. Each of you, however, may use two pokemon." I watch Xander shake his head at Brock's words.

"With all due respect, we are much more skilled than we appear to be, we will both be doing even battles. One-on-one, one pokemon each." I nod at my friend's proposition. I see Brock raise an eyebrow, but nod to Forrest anyways.

"This will be a one-on-one battle between Gym Leader Brock Slate, and Challenger Daniel Wood from Pallet Town."

"Let's go, Geodude!"

"C'mon out, Charmander!"

I see Brock raise his eyebrows as my fire-type starter appears on the field. "You seem old enough, don't you know that fire is weak against rock?"

"Don't you know to never underestimate your opponents?"

"Fair enough. You may have the first move." Ooh, bad choice Brock-o.

"Charmander, rush in with your new **Metal Claw**!"

Brock clearly realized his mistake, and panickedly called his command, "Geodude! Dodge!"

The rock-shaped pokemon did indeed attempt to dodge, but was too slow compared to the fire starter. The metallic claw of Charmander easily slashed Geodude, dealing considerable damage. I pumped my fist in victory at this, only to be slapped lightly by Xander.

"Hey, you haven't won yet." I nod at his words, and see Geodude backing away from Charmander, who remained stationary.

"Geodude, charge up **Rollout**!" Brock calls.

"Use **Ember**! Make sure it gets burned! But stay out of its path!" I command.

As Geodude begins to roll around the field, I watch as Charmander leaps around the rocks, constantly using **Ember**, but I notice she's beginning to get tired out through the repeated use.

Then things started to go wrong. I grimaced as Charmander tripped on one of the rocks, and winced as Geodude landed a serious hit on her.

"Well done Geodude!"

"Charmander, can you continue?" I ask her, she stands up, beaten down slightly, that **Rollout** was problem on its third strike when it hit her. Charmander, however, lets out a mighty, "CHAR" and nods to my question. I smile.

"Excellent! Use **Metal Claw**!"

"Geodude, quick, **Defense Curl**!"

Once again, Geodude was too slow to execute the command, and was easily knocked out by Charmander's **Metal Claw**, the first strike dealing moderate damage, and the numerous **Embers** having dealt too much damage to take any more.

"Geodude is unable to battle! Charmander wins! This means that Challenger Daniel Wood is the victor!" Forrest announces. Brock recalls Geodude, muttering some words of encouragement.

"Well done Daniel," Brock congratulates me, as he walks over to where Xander and I stood. He digs into his pocket, then brings out an octagonal grey pin, "This is the Boulder Badge, proof of your victory." He hands me the badge and I take it with a nod of my head.

"Daniel, you should heal up Charmander," Xander tells me. I shake my head, "I'll stay and watch your battle, Charmander will be fine. Besides, she will be learning how to shrug off pain with ease"

Xander sighs, but makes no argument against me. I see him reach towards Jet's pokeball, and nod to Brock, who had returned to his earlier position. Brock then nods towards Forrest, who prepares to referee once more.

"This will be a one-on-one battle between Gym Leader Brock Slate, and Challenger Xander Bowman from Pallet Town."

"Let's go, Onix!"

Before Xander calls out his pokemon, I noticed his normally lax and tried posture sharpen quite a bit. He pulled his arm back with the pokeball, and thrust it forward.

"It's time to battle!" my friend calls out, "Jet!"

"Dramatic, much?" I mutter to myself, before watching the battle commence.

"Onix! Use **Bind**!"

Xander did nothing but whistle, the hell? Wait-

Before Onix could land a hit on the small Pidgey, Jet suddenly flew right out of reach, then came down with a **Wing Attack**.

Xander whistled again, and I saw Jet's wings turn metallic like Charmander's claws did earlier. Jet slammed his wings into Onix's horn, making it cry out in pain. Brock was trying to figure out what the heck was going on before realizing he had to help out Onix.

"Onix! Use **Harden**!"

Xander merely whistled once more and Jet used **Wing Attack** once more. I then realize what my friend had done.

"Xander…" I say slowly, "Did you...figure out how to whistle commands?"

His answer was a simple smirk. Oh may Arceus help us all. We were then astounded by Brock's next call.

"I forfeit." I see Forrest look at the gym leader in shock.

"It is clear to me you are easily able to win this badge, especially since you took the time to create an entire new way of communication. The goal of the gym badge was to beat me, but I can pardon somebody when it is clear their skill is good enough, or in your case, better, than the required skill to earn this badge."

I see Xander nod at Brock's words, and I see Brock come over and bring out another Boulder Badge.

"As proof of your capability to participate in the League, I present to you the Boulder Badge." Xander nods and takes the badge with a 'thanks'.

* * *

We were sitting in the lobby of the Pokemon Center, waiting for Charmander to heal up. I promised her that after Xander's gym battle I would heal her, but she had to fight off the pain until then. I'm still wondering how the heck Xander pulled off that whistling trick.

"To answer your question, I must first say it was _very _annoying to start with." I nearly fell out of my chair, Xander startled me so badly! Wait a minute though…

"How did you know what I was thinking?" I ask him suspiciously, he tilts his head in confusion, but the blank expression still remained. "I heard you say that." I narrow my eyes, but then I close them and shrug, "Eh, must've spoke my thoughts without realizing it."

Xander sighs, "We should probably get going to Cerulean City, we got plenty of daylight." I nod, getting up from my seat, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Once I get Charmander, we leave." Xander nodded with a, "Yeah."

As I walked up to the counter to ask how long til I can get Charmander back, I realized that when I talked to Xander a minute earlier, I felt my lips part as if I hadn't spoke for a while.

But how did Xander 'hear' me then?


	8. True Colors

_**Hello! I am sorry to say, but this story will probably take up a majority of my time, and I am still trying to sort out the events in my other fanfics… they will still be updated, but not very frequently… anyways, back to this!**_

* * *

**Xander POV**

"So you now command your pokemon through whistles?" Daniel asked me for confirmation, "Damn, that's gonna be tough to beat." I chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of my head.

He looks at me with a slight glare, but with confusion as well, "What?"

"I only taught Jet how to do that… and only with those two moves and simple directions…" Daniel flung his arms into the air in exasperation at my statement, causing me to laugh. "You are going to be the death of me, I swear."

"Well, wouldn't that be _grave?_"

"ARRGH!" I laughed at his expense.

"One of these days, I will have my revenge!" Daniel cried, waving a fist at me.

He soon shook his head and sighed as he and I walked down the trail, our pokemon were currently napping, otherwise we would have been walking with them. I hear Daniel's stomach growl.

"Hungry, eh?" I stopped and smirked at him, to which he growled at.

"No, _totally_ not…" he replies, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

"Oh? I was going to cook, but if you're fine…" I shrug, and continue walking. "Alright! Dammit, I'm hungry! Just quit being a smartass!" I shrug, "Sorry, it's my job." I hear Daniel grumble something, to which I shrug at.

I put my bag down, at get out a small camping stove, as well as I few things of rice and 'artificial chicken'. Apparently, scientists had discovered creatures before Pokemon, and had named them the animals back where I came from. They 'recreated' them as well… not entirely sure what they really mean, but food is food.

After a few minutes of cooking, along with some adding od spices, I put some chicken and rice and two mess kit plates, and hand one to Daniel, along with some plastic utensils. I had a small bite, _good, didn't overcook it this time… maybe a bit heavy on the oregano… _

"Damn Xander!" Daniel exclaimed with delight, "This is the good stuff!" I froze.

"_Hee hee! C'mon Xander!" a figure asked with a gentle smile, as they ate some kind of food, "Isn't this the good stuff?"_

_Xander looked truly cheerful as he smiled kindly at the figure._

* * *

**Daniel POV**

"Damn Xander!" I exclaimed, quite happy knowing my friend is an accomplished cook, "This is the good stuff!" I got no response. I turn my head to look at my friend, and was shocked with what I saw.

Xander was as stiff as a board, his hands frozen in position. His mouth thinned into a tight line, his eyes held grief and pain, and...what the hell?! He was _crying?!_ I couldn't believe my eyes, the unfazeable smartass, who brushed things off like nothing, and stood strong throughout fights, verbal harassment… was crying? Sure enough, clear lines of liquid traced down his cheek.

I spoke tentatively, "Xander-"

"Don't say those words. Ever. Again." I flinched, I never heard Xander speak with so much pain in his now cracking voice before. "I'll get things cleaned up. You wake the pokemon." And just like that, he swiftly took my cleaned plate and went off to find a river. _What the hell did I do?_

* * *

Xander returned a few minutes later, any trace of his pained expression earlier had vanished. I, on the other hand, knew something was up with my friend, and he needed to get through it.

"Hey, Xander, you good?" the teen in question shrugged his coat covered shoulders, "No clue what you mean Daniel, was my cooking bad?" I'm thrown off slightly by his seemingly carefree reaction, but I was not completely deterred. Xander was care_less_, not care_free_.

"You're cooking was fine, and you know what I meant, what happened?" Xander shrugged again, "No clue what you mean, my friend, we ate, I cleaned, you gathered the poke-"

"Bulba?" I see Foxglove wrap a comforting vine around his trainer's leg.

"Gey?" I also see Jet perch lightly on Xander's left shoulder.

"See? Even your Pokemon know something's up. Please, tell us," I beg, I don't like seeing my friends hurting on the inside, I knew Xander was bad, but not that bad.

"...No," Xander's expression darkened, "I can't talk about it, I've worked this hard to get over it, and I'm not breaking down those dams just to rebuild them."

"Do you not trust me?"

"I do, Daniel, but this is…" he sighed, "It's like ripping open a freshly sewn wound, even if it was two years ago," I widen my eyes at that small tidbit of info, so whatever just happened dealt with what changed him, whatever _that event _was. Xander continued, "And being flung into a new world where the literal god of pokemon says, 'do this' and all that, and _now_ the shock is hitting me, nearly a month later."

"I know what Arceus said is big," I try to reason, "but he said we were the best ones for the job, why else did he have Solgaleo and Lunala work together to make an Ultra Wormhole right in front of us?"

I guess I should explain; about two weeks after we got to Pallet Town, we were studying some of the Pidgey's territorial natures, (at Professor Oak's request), when freaking Arceus appears in front of us. He explains that he summoned the two of us, beings of extreme knowledge and skill, (Something I still doubt), to protect Ash from two major events that cause the end of the world: His possession of the King of Pokelantis, and a lab failure at Alola that blows up half the region. He first wanted us to become good friends with him, to gain his trust, so he would hopefully listen to us.

When we were done, he promised us he would allow us to return home as if none of this happened, which I was considering, and Xander was not, he refused to go home. Arceus also reminded us, that while we should be great friends with him, we shouldn't travel with him for very long periods of time, as it could ruin everything.

Xander growled, "Daniel, I understand you're trying to comfort me, but remember the ;ast time somebody tried to pity me?"

I wince at that, and he looks away.

I tentatively reach out and grab his shoulder, "Look, I understand if you don't want to talk about it… but could you at least tell me one day?"

"Fine," he sighed, "I'll tell you some day _after the Kanto League_, and before we change regions, alright?" I nod at his promise.

* * *

Silence had fallen between us as night fell as well. We were able to travel several miles, probably about halfway to Cerulean City. I carried the map this time, Xander may be an Boy Scout with the rank of Eagle, but I'm a JROTC member. I technically outrank him, especially in terms of navigation.

"Daniel?" I turn to him.

"Why do you think I'm better than you?" I paused in my thoughts, wondering why he's asking that now, and not before the Gym Battle. I shrug and began to mull over his question. "Well, you got everything someone could ask for. You're smart as hell, a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, stronger than most people your size, an accomplished cook, a straight A student, a talented athlete…" I began to go off on a rant, "you make the best of most situations, you normally have great control over your emotions, unlike me where I can't keep myself in a single state for more than half a minute. How about how you can easily make people laugh to cheer them up, you'd do anything to help people, I've even heard some girls even go as far to say as you look good. You're not poor either.

"Me? I'm just some nobody from an empty family, I get pretty good grades, but I'm practically invisible to everyone but you, my family constantly bothers me, I'm not an athlete, I don't have many friends, unlike you. You're better than me in practically everything school related, game related, survival related… I'm pretty much only good for reading a damn map!"

Only then did I realize something what was on my cheeks. I reach up and tentatively felt my face. I felt something wet. Tears. I was crying?

Xander had remained silent, soaking up the information I gave him. Soon, however, he spoke.

"Funny… how you think I was simply gifted all of those things. My intellect? Had to impress my parents somehow, so I taught myself. Athletics? My parents pressured me into all sorts of sports and activities since my other family members were athletes. Strength? Constant, unfair chores my parents placed on me. Cooking? My parents taught me that to, 'be the best husband' and shit like that."

I noticed, he too began crying, for the second time today, "Optimism of situations? My dying hope for _something_ good to come out of life. Emotions? Hah," the laugh was without humor, "I'm forcing myself to not feel those… it hurts too bad. Good looks? They're just delusional, or wish to exploit me in some ways. Not poor? I just come from a middle class family. The jokes? My shield, my shield to hide this pain I constantly have. Everything just… hurts… it's much easier to not care about anything… than care about something you'll lose…" He fell silent.

I noticed through my shock of him talking about himself, that he had covered all but one of my statements.

"And friends?" he chuckled darkly, "I originally had seven friends I could go to for anything, everyone else wanted to seem 'cool' and shit. The first moved away, the second I had a falling out with, the third also moved away, the fourth suddenly forgot about me, the fifth obsessed over me until they deemed I was 'not interesting', and the sixth… betrayed me. The seventh, however, came with me to a whole new world," he turned to me, "The seventh, is you Daniel. You're all I have left. But those others… they caused me to never trust people with everything. Never care about anyone. You're the only one who gave a single _damn_ about me, and that convinced me to trust you…"

"I never knew…" I muttered weakly. I had no idea Xander's strong points came from harsh trials… and that he felt so much pain that it was better to remain apathetic than kind. Xander's pokemon had curled up around him, trying to comfort their sobbing trainer.

"I'm so tired Daniel… I'm so tired of living a life where I'm only being _used!_" His weak shout startled the nearby pokemon.

"One day, it _will _get better," I promise him, he scoffs weakly, "Yeah right. I'm going to sleep, and put this conversation to the back of my mind permanently.

* * *

**The Next Morning**

*Snap. Snap Snap. Snap. Snap Snap Snap.* "YES!"

I'm simply amazed as Xander trains with Foxglove, in which he used snapping to command. It was quite easy now that I see it, you combine the move name with a series of snaps. You then add direction to the snaps. Then you're done.

What he says is the hard part, is doing it on the fly by memory.

I'm also impressed with how he is seemingly able to forget that emotional rollercoaster from last night. Even still… finding out my supposed smartass and able-to-do-anything friend, is actually pessimistic and like shattered glass on the inside… that really shook me. He was always so… sturdy I guess. He could take pretty much anything thrown at him

Taking my mind away from that and back to my pokemon's training, I decide to take a page from Xander's book and teach my pokemon my own way of communicating. Eye communication. Yes I know, I also got the idea from Diantha. As I make my way to my own clearing, I see an Abra.

"Hmm, I always wanted an Abra," I mutter to myself, as I grab an empty pokeball from the spare bag of items Xander gave me for training. I silently toss a Pokeball. Yes, I know, I should weaken it first, but did you know that the first thing an Abra will do is teleport?

Like how it did just before my Pokeball hit.

"Ah, rotten luck, maybe next ti-"

"ABRA!"

"GAH!" I shriek, startled by the sudden teleportation of Abra _RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY FACE!_ Oh… you're in for it. I start throwing Pokeballs at the Abra, with it constantly teleporting away by only a few inches!

"Are you mocking me!?" I shout, exasperated. To my surprise, the Abra nods, I sigh and roll my head back, "My god. Why…" I groaned. I swear to all that is holy, if Xander bothers me about not being able to catch an Abra, I _will_ kill him.

"Get back here!" I cry as I continue throwing pokeballs at it, while chasing it around the field.

* * *

**Xander POV**

"GAH!"

I stop my snapping training with Foxglove, who looks at me in confusion. I bend down and pat the grass and poison type on the head, "Hey, I think Daniel's in a bit of a Bind, think we should check it out?"

"Saur," Foxglove nodded. I let out Jet, "Hey, Jet, think you could work on your speed a bit? Try flying from the end of this field to the other as fast as you can, I'll check on you once I see what's going on with Daniel."

"Pidge!" Jet trilled as he launched himself into the air.

Foxglove and I make our way through the small forest and come upon an odd sight.

I watch in confusion as Daniel is running in circles, trying to catch a teleporting Abra. "Whaaa...?" Foxglove mutters slowly, I nod slowly, "You said it Foxglove… weird…"

"Wait." I turn to Foxglove, "Say that again." Foxglove tilted his head, "Buuullbaaa?" I quickly shake my head, I must be tired, cause I could've sworn Foxglove just spoke English. "Let's not talk about this to Daniel, he seems stressed…" Foxglove nodded, "Saur, Bulba."

With that, I walk back to check on Jet's speed exercise, putting that very odd image out of my head.

* * *

**In case you wanted to know what the teams are:**

_**XANDER:  
**__Foxglove_ (Bulbasaur) _\- Male - Level 14  
Jet_ (Pidgey) _\- Male - Level 13_

_**DANIEL:  
**__Charmander - Female - Level 14  
Scyther - Male - Level 16_


	9. A Time of Training

_**Hello! First off, if you think I revealed how my character acts entirely, you are SO wrong. That was so you understood his apathetic/indifferent nature, with a spice of amusement or interest that peeks through. Daniel already spoke about his insecurities, so that's out of the way as well. From now on, it will mainly be Pokemon training, battles, or just plain interactions, not as much character personality setting.**_

_**Also, to the guest that suggested a few things, here are my answers:**_

_**Xander and Sabrina will have a sibling-ish relationship. Not a romantic one, although I did consider it. However, Xander is already going to be paired with someone, but not for a while.**_

_**Xander will not be getting a Gyarados, it doesn't really suit his style.**_

_**Daniel may be getting a Gastly. That is still being debated between us, unfortunately, Daniel has some kind of aversion to Ghost Types… **_

_**Thank you for the suggestions, however! I may have denied some of yours, but it really thrills me to get my readers a chance to affect my story, so suggest away! Perhaps I will add it!**_

* * *

**Xander POV**

"Again!" I command.

I watch in satisfaction as Jet and Foxglove fight each other for the eighth time in two hours. Before those two hours I was working on our non verbal commands for an hour and a half. Before _that_ training, we were warming up for an hour. Before _THAT_…

We had breakfast. What did you expect? More training?

That was for Daniel. He woke up at three in the morning to try and get the jump on me in training. Unfortunately for him, I know he keeps waking up because he is SO FRICKIN' LOUD! Seriously! You can hear him wake up from a mile away with his yawn!

But I am quieter… I wait for him to sleep before doing speed training with my team, in which I would train their mobility in the dark, as well as their attack speed. If you think I'm going overboard with my training, I'm not. My Pokemon have practically _begged_ me to train them.

The few times I've tried to give them a break, I get hit with a Wing Attack and a Vine Whip. Not fun, nor weak. I'm pretty sure both my Pokemon are already close to evolving, same with Daniel's, or at least his Charmander since Scyther can't evolve except by trade.

I snap out of my thoughts to find Foxglove panting, with Jet standing over him, squawking in victory. I clap my hands, "Alright you two, you need a break to recover your energy, if you wanna continue after that, I'll come up with something."

My two Pokemon nod reluctantly before going under the shade of a tree, away from the sunny field they've been training in. I'm not giving them potions because unfortunately, I'm out of those. If I know my Pokemon, they'll want to fight even more.

What to do… ah! They desperately need new moves!

Yeah… they're both level 15 or something… and they haven't learned any new moves… no wonder Daniel's been beating me in our sparring battles recently… Time to go through the moves they can learn!

* * *

"Alright! Gather round!" I call. I smile inwardly as my two Pokemon practically blink themselves over to me in an instant. I crouch as I pull out my idea pad from my bag. I point at Jet first.

"We've been focusing on your stats too much, and we don't have a large variety in attacks," I explain, "Therefore, in order to become even stronger, we need to learn new moves, got that?"

Jet nods eagerly, and I see Foxglove nod with a "Saur" of approval for my plan.

I nod my own appreciation for their understanding before I begin to explain what I want them to work on. "Okay then, Jet, you're gonna need more time since you need something to counter Rock Types, and the first move I can think of that you'll be able to use is Steel Wing, got it?"

"Pidge!" Jet nods. I smile slightly at their enthusiasm.

"Good, now I'll take a page from Daniel's book and explain it to you the way he taught Metal Claw to Charmander. I want you to focus your energy into your wings, think of them as hard as steel, then strike a tree as hard as you can. When you see a metallic sheen on your wings, call for me, alright?"

"Gey Pidge!" he nodded, before giving me a salute with his right wing, which I admit, I laughed at as he left to train. As I calm down, I turn to Foxglove and let out a breath, he's gonna have either a way harder or way easier time with learning the moves I have planned for him.

"Alright Foxglove, you're working with me today, we need to bring out your poison typing, as well as our trap move," I tell him, to which he grins at. His green head tilted slightly after a second, "Bul saur?"

I assume he wondered what I meant.

"I'm gonna see if we can get you to learn Sludge Wave and Leech Seed, but first, we gotta start with the basic Spore and Poison Powder." Foxglove nods at that, and stands taller, a sign that I've come to realize that means he's ready to train.

"We're gonna need to start with Spore first, as it's the most basic powder attack for you to learn, got it?" a nod from him confirms that. I then explain to him that he needs to try and focus on shaking the spores from the bud on his back with the intent of making the opponent sleep, as that's what I hope needs to happen.

"Alright, I want you to try it on me, and if I fall asleep, I want you to get Daniel over to wake me up, alright?" Foxglove nods with a, "Bulba." He closes his eyes in concentration before flinging his bud towards me, and I cough as a yellowish powder emits from it.

"(COUGH, COUGH!) Yeah, you (COUGH) got the… basics… down," I applaud him as I begin to feel drowsy, but I do my best to willpower my way through it. It wouldn't do for me to easily fall asleep, because a Pokemon might will their own way through.

Foxglove looks at me, "Bulba?"

I give him a thumbs up, "You got the basics down, as well as the intent, now we need to increase that intent so I can't fight it off." Foxglove nods as I state a phrase my Pokemon are very familiar with.

"Again!"

* * *

**Daniel POV**

"Keep it goin' Scyther!" I cheer. Charmander also cheered for Scyther herself, while she recovered from her fight with the Pokemon she was cheering on currently, which surprised me that she wanted to take a break, as she normally hated breaks and would keep training until she fainted. Of course, I helped her train, and I would try not to push her that far, but she wouldn't have it.

Scyther was more laid back in training, but he still took it seriously, like he was now as he was practicing the accuracy of his Fury Cutter by chopping down small branches, which I would use to help with the fire Xander was making tonight before we continued to Cerulean City. We've already been in the forest for three days, and Ash and Company are probably close behind us.

I started getting a head start on Xander when it comes to training, and while he would be sleeping like a log, I would wake up early and begin training. He apparently tried to pull the wool over me and get his own head start, but did he really think I wouldn't notice him sneaking away when I fake slept? I know he goes to sleep late after he trains for an extra two or three hours.

What concerns me is how despite his training, I've been winning our mock battles recently. Even though I know for a fact his Pokemon are as strong or stronger than my Pokemon stat wise, and if he keeps losing, he might not even be able to beat Misty! Of course… that would be _great_ blackmail on him.

I'm brought out of my thoughts when Charmander tap me, and points her claw behind me. I turn to see a smug Bulbasaur walking up to me. That smug grin is only recognizable on a certain Bulbasaur, and that is Foxglove.

"What is it Foxglove?" I ask.

He gently wraps a vine around my right wrist before pointing in Xander's direction with his other vine. "Bulba, Saur bulba bul bul saur ba." I look to Charmander for some kind of translation, as I'm not as connected to Foxglove to understand what he's saying.

I immediately understand what's going on when Charmander mimics sleeping.

"Did he actually fall asleep during training?" I ask incredulously.

Both Pokemon shake their heads before Charmander mimics and attacking motion. Ah, so that's what happened. Looking at Foxglove I ask him for confirmation, "So you were practicing an attack, and it ended with him getting knocked out?"

The Grass Starter nodded.

"Alright, I'll wake him up," I sigh, and I turn to Charmander. "Can you tell Scyther to keep it up? And I want you to continue working on Dragon Rage, it will be so useful later on." With a nod of her head, my Starter walks away to where Scyther was training.

I nod to Foxglove and he begins leading/draggin me to Xander with the vine wrapped around my wrist.

* * *

**Xander POV**

I glared at the crumpled form of Daniel. Yes, I know I asked Foxglove to bring him over to wake me up.

He did _NOT,_ however, have to soak me with water! So I say he deserves the socking to the temple I gave him. Okay… _maybe_ I hit his temple to hard, but I say my reasoning is sound. Waking someone up is one thing, but drenching a defenseless sleeper? That's borderline cruel.

I hear some kind of odd noise to my left, and I see Foxglove shuddering, with one vine covering his mouth, and another vine…

Holding a now empty bottle of water.

I glare at my pokemon now, "Seriously Foxglove? Did you just set Daniel up?"

The grass starter nodded.

I sigh as I shake my friend awake, "Wake up."

He groaned, "The hell just hit me…?"

"Sorry, a certain pokemon of mine decided to prank me and blame it on you."

"Is that why you're soaked?"

I growl as I look away. The answer to that should be obvious. I let him stand up as I take out my personalized Pokedex. Well, technically it's a prototype of a possibly advanced version of the pokedex. Since I suggested most of the adjustments, Professor Oak gave it to me to test run. It occasionally glitches out, but not very often.

I scan Foxglove:

_Bulbasaur- 15_

_Spore_

_Vine Whip_

_Growl_

_Tackle_

I whistle for Jet to come back over, and he pauses his Steel Wing training to come over for his own scanning:

_Pidgey- 15_

_Wing Attack_

_Peck_

_Growl_

_Sand Attack_

"Hmm… We'll need you to forget Growl if you want to learn Steel Wing…" I mutter to myself.

"I ran into that problem with Charmander when she wanted to learn Dragon Rage," Daniel commented groggily. Probably still feeling the effects of my right hook. "The best way we found was to focus on the other four moves, and ignore the move you want to get rid of."

I nod at him, "Thanks…" I look towards his now arriving Charmander, "Mind if I scan?"

He shrugged, "Go ahead, you own the prototype anyways."

I scan the fire type starter:

_Charmander - 15_

_Metal Claw_

_Dragon Rage_

_Ember_

_Smokescreen_

I raise an eyebrow at the setup. Knowing Daniel, he'd try to blind my Pokemon, and use Dragon Rage constantly. I'll have to watch out with this one.

I turn to the bug pokemon that hovered with a slight buzz:

_Scyther - 17_

_Agility_

_Quick Attack_

_Vacuum Wave_

_Fury Cutter_

Daniel looks over me and grunts, "Huh, I thought Scyther was level 20 by now, guess I was wrong."

I shrug, "Perhaps he has high IV's? Let's see if I can check that."

I tinker with my Pokedex a bit, and try to scan him again.

_Scyther 17_

_1)8^*8432^..._

I shake my head, "That's a negatory, captain."

Daniel sighed, "Oh well," he looks up, "do you have any spare Pokeballs?" I nod as I hand him a small bag of them.

"Don't throw them away~" I tease.

3, 2, 1… I think in my head.

_**SMACK!**_

I chuckle internally as I hold my head in pain. Still have good Smacking senses!

* * *

**Daniel POV**

One of these days… I am going to _kill_ him! I mean seriously! He doesn't have to tell a god forsaken joke every time I move! GAH!

"Abra!" I turn towards the noise, and spot that blasted Abra again!

"You aren't getting away from me this time…" I growl, readying my Pokeballs.

* * *

**Xander POV**

"Stay still!" I hear Daniel shout, and I groan. He's been chasing that Abra for a couple days by now. Seriously, can't he just give up? Or at least wait till we get to Cerulean? I don't have infinite pokeballs you know!

"Hey… wait, what the hell?!"

Those panicked words make me stop, and I call out to my pokemon, "Foxglove, Jet! Return! We have trouble!" My starter bounds over as fast as possible as I run to Daniel's position, while Jet zipped overhead.

When I get to Daniel, my eyes narrow.

Two black suited people stand before him.

With a very annoying R on their chest.


	10. Two Dogs

**To the guest that asked if Xander was based off the real me. The answer is yes. Aside from being much more of a smartass and way more badass than usual, Xander is pretty much a carbon copy. Xander's actually my REAL name. (Draxen, my username, is an anagram of Xander. D-R-A-X-E-N. Rearrange those letters, and you'll get X-A-N-D-E-R)**

**To the NeedingOfLifeGoalDude, Thank you ever so much for your comments! I shall do my best to answer them!**

**Will you see Daniel and Misty bickering? Oh yes, I had too much fun writing that to only put in one scene.**

**Will Ash and Daniel have some trouble with the OG trio in Viridian City? Yes, but not all that much. The event will lead to slight development of character relations though.**

**Your timeline question? That is a mix. A majority will be based off the anime, but multiple times there will be both my **_**own**_ **canon events, such as Ash growing up, learning more (though not for **_**quite**_ **some time). There will also be some game elements fixed into this, like some of the team bases or held Pokemon.**

**The Cerulean Gym badge? Oh ho ho, that you will have to see next chapter!**

**Concerning the relationships of Xander and Daniel, Xander will be in a relationship, but that won't be revealed til around halfway through Johto. Daniel, at the moment, has no desire to be in one at the moment.**

**Oh, and in case none of you knew, I am the author, while Daniel himself edits and revises. We work together on this.**

**And your final question? The rival duo battle in this isn't even **_**close**_ **to the last one. Our characters, however, do make an impression, and not a very nice one. You'll see what I mean. I just hope you find the rival duo's first appearance funny, however crude it is. You'll get the title chapter then.**

**Also, I had **_**far**_ **too much fun writing this chapter.**

* * *

**Daniel POV**

I hear Xander groan beside me as we stare down the two black-suited Rockets. "Great… just what we needed." I sigh in his direction.

"You're not wrong there," I comment.

"Hey! Brats!" I turn to the orange/yellow haired female Rocket, "Pay attention if you want to live!" I roll my eyes. As I do so, I notice a cage behind them… huh.

"Cassidy, I think they need a little lesson in respecting their betters!" growled the green haired Rocket. Xander scoffed.

"I have plenty respect for my betters," he smirked devilishly, "and there lies your problem, you aren't my betters. So if you wish to give a lesson, please, demonstrate how you should respect me."

I roar with laughter and clap my hands, "Nice Xander!"

He mocked bowed to me, "Thank you, I hope I entertained you."

The Rocket known as Cassidy growled, "You'll pay for this runt!" She then took a pose, and her action was closely followed by the green haired Rocket. Oh no...

"Prepare for trouble…" Cassidy started.

"And make it double!"

_Nononononono!_

Xander groans, "Kill me. Please."

"Here's our mission, so you better listen!"

I shake my head and whisper to Xander, "nah… no thanks. Don't care."

"To infect the world with devastation!" the green hair guy exclaimed.

"To blight all people in every nation!"

I lean to Xander, "Err… what does blight actually mean?" He raised an eyebrow. "It means severely detriment something. Or just harm somethin' a lot for simple terms."

"Ah." I reply.

"To denounce the goodness of truth and love!" Cassidy glares at us.

I heard Xander mutter something barely, "Only part I'll agree with…" I look at him appalled, and when he sees my look he just mutters to me, "After tournament." Ah.

"To extend our wrath to the stars above!" the other Rocket growled. I think they're getting agitated. Excellent!

"There is no direction in space, you know," Xander comments quietly, "So above means nothing at all. Silly people." I snicker at that.

"Cassidy!"

"And Butch, of course!"

Xander gains a bewildered look, but before I could say anything, the Barney and Cassidy spoke louder.

"WE'RE TEAM ROCKET CIRCLING EARTH DAY AND NIGHT!"

"SURRENDER TO US NOW OR YOU WILL SURELY LOSE THE FIGHT!"

Once they finished, Xander tentatively reached out, "I kinda pity you dude." I look at Xander with a WTF look. Biff looks just as confused. "The hell do you mean?"

Xander sighed dramatically, "I would hate having my mother name me Bitch as well." I roar with laughter and double over. That is just _too _good. "N-Nice one X-Xander!" I stutter out through my laughs. Bailey just looks furious, but even Cassidy is biting her lips with amusement.

"IT'S BUTCH!"

My friend blinked, "Wait… so you _want _to be known as Bitch? Okay then… guess you're submissive…" I weakly punch him as I see my grave from dying of this glorious laughter. "X-Xander… I-I'm supposed to m-make sex jokes…" I gasp out my reminder.

"**IT'S BUTCH!" **Barbie shireks.

Xander sighed, "Whatever," he turns to me, and a brilliant idea forms in my head which makes me control my laughter just enough to speak. "Hey, Xander, I just realized, we have a Bitch," I point to Brady, "and a bitch." I point to Cassidy, who stops looking amused and glares at me with a furious look.

"That's it! Mankey, crush them!" Billy shouted in rage.

"Rattata! Join him!" Cassidy growled.

Xander snaps his fingers, and Foxglove leaps from the forest around us and onto the battlefield. "Charmander with me!" I call out, and the fire starter that had I told to hide in the trees behind me at the sight of the Rockets came out. I'm saving Scyther's strength for Cerulean.

* * *

**Xander POV**

"Rattata, **Tackle**!" Bitch shouted.

"Mankey, **Scratch**!" Bitch growled, her rage barely controlled from my angle.

I roll my eyes. This is gonna be easier than I thought. I turn to Daniel, "Gas, Whip, Rage." He grins at that, and turns to his pokemon, who we've trained to automatically dodge attacks without command, something that Bitch and (as Daniel suggested) Bitch, found shocking.

"Charmander! **Smokescreen**!"

Bitch… wait. I need to tell you readers the difference between the Bitches don't I… Ah! The male Bitch will still be Bitch, and the female Bitch will be B!tch! The exclamation mark was the first thing I thought of, alright? Oh! I should get back to the story…

B!tch shouted in indignation as Charmander spewed the black smoke that covered everything. Just before I lost sight of the two, I saw Bitch growl and reach for his hip. And it wasn't near the Pokeballs on his belt. _OH HELL NO!_

"Foxglove! **Vine Whip** and **Spore**! NOW!" I shout. Snapping would take to long, I race over to Bitch. If he was reaching for what I thought… well, let's just say I didn't want to taste metal today.

As I neared the two, just barely visible through the smokescreen, I hear Daniel cry out the ending move of our team combo, "Charmander! **Dragon Rage** them both!" I hear the cry of the fire starter as two balls of yellow and blue energy lit the smoke, giving me a brief view of the Bitches. My fears were confirmed as I saw a snarling Bitch hold his hands together in front of him, looking at Daniel.

I lunge and grab his wrists.

"WHAT THE-!"

His cry of surprise was cut short as I turned and slammed his elbows down onto my shoulder, a loud and sickening crack rang through the smoke. I heard the clutter as the he held at Daniel fell to the ground.

"YOU BASTARD!" he cried, looking at his broken arms I released. I dove for the gun he dropped and immediately turned off the safety. I began to see Bitch clearly as the smoke began to disperse.

I glance towards my friend's direction, and I saw Daniel's eyes widen in shock as he saw me on my back, a gun pointing right at Bitch. "Xander!?" I ignore him as I snarl at Bitch and B!tch.

"Look. I'll give you a choice. YOU surrender and run. And I'll let you live," I growl out. The Bitches look scared for a moment before B!tch started laughing. "Nice try brat! You're just a kid! You can't pull that tri-"

_**BANG**_

B!tch froze as bullet zipped past her. I snarl, "I'm not like most kids. They have morals. I don't." I heard a step and I whirl my hands and aimed right at Bitch, "Try it. I wonder what the color of scum's blood is." He froze, and I heard the clinking of metal.

I whirled back to B!tch and fire, startling her enough to drop her own gun.

"Leave. Now. Drop your ammo, too. We won our battle anyway." I gesture my head to the fainted Mankey and Rattata. B!tch gulped with wide eyes before she turned to Bitch, and the two nodded, B!tch returned the two pokemon, unclasped her belt and Bitch's, and the two got the hell out of dodge, leaving the ammo filled belts. As I looked at where they left, I saw a cage off to the side with an Abra in it. So that's why they were here.

Once I was sure the two Bitches were definitely gone, I relaxed.

Then everything went hazy.

* * *

**Daniel POV**

"WHAT THE-!"

I hear Bobby let out a cry of surprise that was suddenly cut short by a loud and sickening crack that rang through the smoke. I heard a faint clutter of something soon after.

"YOU BASTARD!" he suddenly cried. I soon began to see Barry clearly as the smoke began to disperse. My eyes widen in shock as I saw Xander on his back, a gun pointing right at Buff, his arms dangled uselessly at his sides, twisted at an odd angle. "Xander!?" I shout in surprise. I then see something I have never seen in his eyes as he glance at me. Fear.

"Look. I'll give you a choice. YOU surrender and run. And I'll let you live," he growls out. The Rockets look scared for a moment before Cassidy started laughing. "Nice try brat! You're just a kid! You can't pull that tri-"

_**BANG**_

Even _my_ eyes widened as I heard the familiar sound of gunfire.

Xander snarled, "I'm not like most kids. They have morals. I don't." I shudder, I've never heard his voice so cold… except when he defended his old friends from bullies… but it was colder than even that. Wait that tone, the fear when he glanced at me...

My stomach dropped. He had been aiming for _me._

I saw Bailey step toward Xander, and before I could warn him, he whirled and aimed right at Cassidy, "Try it. I wonder what the color of scum's blood is." He froze, and I then saw Cassidy unlatch something on her belt, and once again, I tried to warn Xander, but he whirled around again and fired, missing completely, but making her drop the gun she just pulled out.

"Leave. Now. Drop your ammo, too. We won our battle anyway." He gestured his head to the Mankey and Rattata that Charmander knocked out with Dragon Rage.

Cassidy gulped with wide eyes before she turned to Bucky, and the two nodded, Cassidy returned the two pokemon, unclasped her belt and Barnaby's, and the two got the hell out of dodge, leaving the ammo filled belts. As I looked at where they left, I saw the cage more clearly, and my eyes widened at the Abra that was locked in it.

I rush over and press the button on the door, and the Abra was freed. Before anything else happened, I heard the sound of something falling. I turned to find Xander on his knees, his chest rapidly rising and falling. The gun in his hands aimed right at where Buggy was.

I immediately rush to my kneeling friend, his eyes were clearly unfocused. "Xander! Listen to me! Calm down! You're going into shock!"

He didn't respond.

"FOXGLOVE!" I cry out in panic. The Bulbasaur strides over to me quickly, and he can't even make a noise before I speak, "Please, use Spore on Xander, NOW! He could die if you don't! I can't move him either or he'll lash out!"

Foxglove nodded, his eyes hardening as he jerked the bulb on his back upwards and sprinkled the yellowish/white powder over Xander, who nearly instantly fell asleep. Not strong enough to carry him, I lie him down and set him in a more comfortable position. Thankfully his breathing quickly returned to normal.

"Abra?" I turn to the Psi pokemon. It's holding a Pokeball. Which it then taps. I smile slightly as I release he Abra from its container. "H-Hey," I greet shakily, "Glad you finally joined me…" Abra smiled before pointing to Xander. "Abra…"

At that moment, Xander stirred. He immediately shot up, eyes wide and filled with fear.

"Xander! Stay Calm!" I say softly, holding his shoulders.

He fell silent and began to breathe.

A minute later he looked at me, and for the briefest of moments, I saw the broken spirit in his eyes, before I was greeted with a cold and calculating gaze. "Let go of me _now,_" he hissed. I jump off him. I forgot he hated physical contact.

I saw Xander turn his gaze away. "Sorry I made you worry," he said softly. "I lost control and gave in to my bloodlust… if you fear me, I don't blame you." I narrow my eyes and move to look him in the eyes.

"If you think I'm gonna leave just because you shot at criminals, you're not smart at all." His eyes widened before I smirked, "Besides, you weren't even _close_ to hitting them. Your aim sucks."

He glared before the corner of his mouth lifted slightly, "Thanks…" his stare hardened and his voice returned to its usual steel as he looked at the guns, "Well. Let's take inventory of our new toys."

I look at him in shock, "I thought you'd be scared of guns after that!"

He 'tch'ed, "Please, I'm not like Sinon*****. I can handle killing. May not like it, but I won't hesitate." I nod at his statement.

"Alright, fine. Let's see what we have," I state, grabbing the gun by his side and examining it. I whistle as I look at it, "Damn, these are some nice ones… I think these are the MK XIX Desert Eagles…" I swipe one of the pockets of the belt and find three mags in it. I open one and examine a bullet, "Hmm… looks like a .50 AE bullet… means seven rounds per magazine." I look at the belt and see three pouches of three magazines of three mags each. "Means about 63 rounds over all… nice… Team Rocket is definitely not poor, that's for sure."

I turn to Xander to see if he had any questions.

He was staring at me with wide eyes and his jaw dropped, "H-How… w-what? I-I Knew you knew your guns…" he flicks his eyes to the Deagle and then to me, "but… that's just insane…" he suddenly smirks, "Well, you say I'm a bad shot, so how about you teach me?"

I drop my shoulders and groan, "Oh fine, I guess that'll repay my debt for you saving my life." He frowned at that, "So you saw that he was aiming for you too?" I nodded. Xander smiled, "Alright then, I guess I can accept you teaching me how to fire properly will suffice as paying your debt." He turned to my side, noticing the Abra.

"Huh, about time you caught him."

I groan. "Why do I even bother with you!"

* * *

***Sinon is a character in SAO II… just so you know who I'm referencing.**


	11. Revelations of Betrayal

**I hope you enjoyed the previous chapter, I had **_**so**_ **much fun writing it!**

**To the guest that corrected his earlier review, Daniel won't have a Gyarados. He was quite against that. Now, for Xander to have a Gastly? That might actually be possible, but not for some time. If Xander does get a Gastly, it will likely be just before Sabrina comes into play.**

**Also, I know that I recently answered a guest's on whether Xander was based off me, but I forgot to include that some events have been slightly dramatized in real life, and that the names of everyone included were changed. The only true names are Xander and Daniel, every other name has been altered.**

**Oh! If you have questions about the guns, Xander and Daniel will **_**never **_**kill anyone if they don't have to. This does not mean they won't shoot at people, they'll just use them as a last resort, or to even the ground against the Rockets. (Excluding Jesse, James, and Meowth, they understand the Trio needs to keep following Ash.)**

* * *

**Daniel POV**

I sigh in exasperation as the age old problem that refuses to be solved comes up to the plate once again. The situation that can only cause misfortune to the one that attempts to fix it. The precarious position I have been placed in once more that always results in a major catastrophe. That horrid task that life has assigned to me:

Waking up Xander.

I first thought about firing my newly obtained gun. Needless to say, the only outcome would be Xander panicking and firing at me. Considering I was less than five feet away, even a poor shot like him could probably hit me.

I might have trickled a little water on him, but a simple reminder of what happened when water was the cause of his waking up after training with Foxglove shot that down too.

The safest option was Train Whistling him, but he'd still be pissed at me.

So I was faced with two options. Awaken a beast, but get to Cerulean before dinner. Or let have a very safe day, but not arrive at Cerulean until a day or two, which might be enough time for Ash and Company to catch up. Although, now that Brock's with them, it might be safer to travel with them for some time…

"...why…"

I'm brought out of my thoughts when I heard Xander speak. It was common for him to mumble in his sleep every once in a while, but this was the first time he's said a whole word… maybe I should let him be, see what he says.

I sit down on a nearby root. Xander was currently sleeping in a sitting position against a tree, without his pokemon for the first time. Judging from the shouts I heard when Xander trained last night, a most exhausting regime had been completed, and Foxglove and Jet were too tired to stay out.

I'm actually wondering why Jet's having a hard problem with learning Steel Wing. He accidently used that instead of Wing Attack during his battle against Brock, but he has been somewhat unsuccessful. Maybe I should give him a rock or something like that to hit? Nah, too small-

"...don't… … I… trusted you… … thought… cared…"

Hmm? What's he talking about? Sounds like he trusted someone, and that he thought this someone cared about something… but what? It can't be Xander that this person supposedly cared about, because I know Xander never dated or went out with anyone. He's always been to shy for that.

"...why… Susan…"

Hold up. Susan? Why would Xander be dreaming of her? Those two went their own ways last year, after school ended in eighth grade… As a matter of fact, the two hardly even interacted during high school. I know for a _fact_ that the two had no kind of feelings for each other at _all_. They knew each other well, yes, but Xander told me he could never date her. 'Too much like a sister', he had said, before they suddenly split.

Suddenly, Xander started twitching, and his mutterings became rapid and incomprehensible… wow, that was a big word for me… Anyways, Xander began to writhe against the tree. Was he having a nightmare?

"Xander?" I ask hesitantly.

He only writhes worse. Almost like whatever he's dreaming about is causing him pain… I can't stand to see him like this. I steel my nerves and grab him, "Xander! Wake up!"

* * *

Good news! It was successful and he woke up!

Bad news! I'm now traveling through Mount Moon with a _very_ pissed off Xander, and a bloody nose!

Apparently holding down an Antisocial teenager who hates physical contact is a very stupid thing to do.

"Bhy da hell dib you hab to punch me?!" I cry as I hold a wet cloth on my nose, blood still dripping from it, and onto the rocky floor of the tunnel.

Xander glares at me, "You were the one with the bright idea to hold me down when I was groggy. I thought you were attacking me, and I reacted accordingly. Be glad you had trapped my legs, or you might not ever have a child."

I shudder at that.

Xander looks away, "For whatever its worth, I'm sorry. But don't confuse that with me taking my punch back, that felt good."

I glare for the briefest of moments before his word and actions register. I couldn't help but have to stop and lean against the rocky wall and begin to laugh. Xander sighs, "Great. What's so funny? Did I manage to hit you hard enough that you've gone crazy?"

I point at him weakly, "Da bay you abolojised, you thounded 'ike a sundairay!"

He tilts his head in confusion, and mutters, "I sounded like a… tsundere?" He pauses and thinks back to what he just said, before he sighs with some laughter, "Dear god, you're right… I sounded like a total tsundere."

* * *

"Hey! Be're binally 'ere!" I cheer as we enter the large city, still holding my still bleeding nose. Xander _really_ punched hard! The puncher in question nodded.

"Yep, we are," he agrees, "thankfully, we didn't get lost and made it here with time to spare before dinner." I narrow my eyes at him.

"Be dibn't get lost betause _I_ hab da mab!"

He stared, "You took it from me."

"BETAUSE YOU ALREABY GOT US LOST TWIBE IN DA _HALB_ MILE _BEBORE _BE ENTERED MOUNT MOON!" I shouted at him. He merely cleaned his ear out with his ring finger.

"Quiet down will you? You're making a scene."

I throw my free hand in the air with a sigh of exasperation. Xander chuckles at my actions, earning him a glare. Unfortunately, it didn't even faze him. He pulls out one of his pokeballs, "Out, Foxglove!"

The quad-pedalled dinosaur formed with a flash of white. "Bul saur?" He asks his trainer, who shrugs. "Nah, just wanted you to stretch- hold up." Why did he cut himself off? Better yet, has his bond with Foxglove gotten strong enough to interpret his words already?

"Say that again."

"Bul saur, bulba?"

His eyebrows bunch up. "Odd…"

* * *

**Xander POV**

Can this day get any weirder? First's the dream about Julian, which then transits to Susan, a lovely nightmare duo. Then a wake up to my best friend straddling me, which was VERY awkward by the way. I actually punched him because it looked like… well... nevermind.

Then there's me acting like a tsundere in the cave. _That_ was embarrassing to realize.

And now there's me hearing my pokemon talk like a human again. I swear, he spoke like one then. Just like when I saw Daniel chase Abra for the first time! I could have sworn he said, "Whaaa?" And just earlier, I would plead to the judge he just said, "Training time?"

"What the hell is up with you Xander?" Daniel inquired. His voice sounded a bit odd though. Wait… when could he speak normally? Eh, whatever.

I wave off to Daniel, "Don't ask me, I've been having the strangest day."

"Uh… Vander? I dibn't thay anyting."

I turn and frown at him, "Yes you did, you just asked me what's up with me." He shook his head shakily.

"No… I onwy _jusb _thought ob dat."

Wait… hold on a fucking minute. Actually, no. Hold on a whole fucking day. I am NOT dealing with this right now! I just sigh, "You know what? Forget it, we'll talk about this some other time. Let's get that badge."

Daniel shook his head, "Leb's get my noze bicksed ub birst."

I shrug, "Fair enough."

* * *

**Daniel POV**

Xander is starting to freak me out. Admittedly, this is the largest event yet, but every once in a while he'll know what I'm thinking, or acts like he can easily understand his pokemon. Arceus did say he'd give us gifts… maybe this is Xander's?... If so… when will mine be revealed…?

Ah forget it. My nose is finally fixed up. Unfortunately, the process took too long and the gym closed for the day. Oh well.

I lay back in the bed in the room Xander had rented for us. He mysteriously disappeared while I was getting my nose fixed up, and came back holding wads of cash in his hands. He said it was from pokemon battling. I didn't believe him until I saw several trainers glaring at him as they entered the Pokemon Center. Xander kept muttering something about 'so close' as well. I think he was close to seeing either Jet or Foxglove evolve.

I look to my left, seeing Xander tapping notes into his tablet, with his pokedex on his left and his notepad and pencils on his right. He's probably going through his plan to take on the gym. I'm just gonna rush the sisters with Charmander.

I turn back and try to get some sleep, but some of Xander's words kept bothering me.

"_I'm just barely a sociopath because I don't care about much at all."_

"_Emotional problems? Sleeping problems? Eating problems? They are all caused by the same thing; my inability to care."_

"_I'm only a useless shell."_

"_The jokes? My shield, my shield to hide this pain I constantly have."_

"_...and the sixth… betrayed me."_

"_They caused me to never trust people… Never care about anyone."_

"_I'm so tired of living a life where I'm only being _used!"

My mind groaned at the enigmatic friend of mine. Why were those thoughts and negative emotions going through my head then? Wait…

"_...don't… … I… trusted you… … thought… cared…"_

"_...why… Susan…"_

No. They didn't just go their separate ways. Aside from me, Susan was the only one that had interacted with Xander quite often. Susan, Susan was the sixth friend. _She_ was the one who betrayed Xander… but why? How? When- wait.

_A younger Xander trudged along the seventh grade corridor slowly. His face cast down._

_A younger Daniel ran to catch up, "Hey man! What's going on?... why you so upset?"_

_Xander shook his head, and roe it with a very convincing smile, "It's nothing, Susan and I just got into a small disagreement."_

Disagreement my ass. Disagreements don't leave Xander looking depressed. Actually, ever since that day, Xander seemed slightly colder towards most others… and even when he was 'normal' he had a hard time trusting people. For five years, Xander only ever trusted me, Susan, Julian, Tracy, Justin, Stephen, and Carter.

Wait a minute. Stephen moved away years ago, I recall Carter and Xander having a HUGE fight with both words and fists (Xander winning with a bleeding lip and black eye), Justin had to also move since his dad found new work, Julian suddenly stopped showing up to our little outings, Tracy had once stalked Xander throughout school, and Susan…

No. Nonononono.

Susan faked being Xander's friend all that time.

"Figured it out, have you?"

It was only when the slight echo came back around did I realize I had spoken my final thought aloud. I turned to see Xander's gaze on me. Odd. It wasn't cold or angry or upset… just… blank.

I tried to ask him what happened, but as soon as my jaw twitch he shook his head. "After the tournament. Then I'll tell you everything. For now, let's get some sleep." His word held a tone of finality, and his suggestion was one we both seemed to go along with quickly.

* * *

**Xander POV**

Damn it. I think as I try to fall asleep. I actually managed to slip enough for him to begin to piece together _that_… wait. Where did S- _she_ come from? I don't recall ever saying _her_ name… ah crap, I was sleep talking probably. At least he came to a more simple conclusion. Oh if only it was that small…

* * *

_I find myself in a room of white, with large grecian pillars of gold forming a circle around me. Great, this is familiar. Hall of Origins in my dream again, what does Arceus want now?_

"_**Good question, and one I'll answer.**_"

_I turn around to face the llama god of Pokemon. I bow slightly, "Greetings Arceus."_

"_**Greetings to you, Broken One.**_" _I groan at the title._

"_Why was I called that?!"_

"_**Your emotional and mental state is very unhealthy. Perhaps if you fix that I'll call you a better name.**_" _It responds in a somewhat amused tone. I groan again, I forgot that Arceus was a smartass like me._

"_**But that is not here nor there, I have come to discuss your developing gift.**_"

"_I've been thinking about that, actually," I reply, "I can occasionally hear thoughts, and sometimes understand my pokemon. I have some kind of telepathy or empathy powers don't I?" The being chuckles at my assessment._

"_**Still observant as ever,**_" _it replies… smiling? I can't really tell… but what looks like its mouth is curved slightly more than usual. It continues its speech, "__**You are actually a very powerful Psychic. You will begin to unlock your complete potential after you defeat Sabrina. But you MUST let Ash win first. That is imperative. That said, I know I requested for you to not follow along with Ash, but until Sabrina is beaten, I need you to keep an eye on him, without the use of your guns on the trio of Rocket Members. However, any others are free game. When you run into Damien, make sure he pays, his actions were despicable. Also, you'll soon be able to get that Porygon you wish for so much.**_"

_I smirk, "Thanks for that." I harden my expression, "Other than that, I'll make sure Daniel gets the memo- wait," I stop at the sudden shiver of Arceus, "You're telling him now aren't you?"_

_The shivering increases and I hear a slight snicker from the god of Pokemon._

"_**Oh how I wish you were less perceptive. Now wake up before your loud friend helps you.**_"

* * *

_**FWEEEEEEEE**_

"GAHH!"

_**THUMP**_

_**SMACK**_

"OW! WHAT THE HELL?!"

Ah the sounds of morning…

I stand up from my rude awakening and falling to the floor, clenching and unclenching my fist. I give an amused look to Daniel who is now hopping up and down holding his shin.

"What have I told you about startling me awake in a small bed?"

He glares at me, "If I recall, 'You wake me up and I fall, I'm kicking your ass', or something along that line. But you didn't kick, and my shin is not my ass!"

I shrug, "I'll Crescent Axe Kick instead."

He recoils, "I-I'm good." He straightens, "Anyways, Arceus visit you too?" I nod. "Alright then, I say we get some breakfast and some training in before hitting the gym, that good with you?"

I nod again, and head to the bathroom, "Fine, just let me take a shower and get changed."

* * *

**Daniel POV**

"We're here to challenge the gym!" I call out. Xander groans, "Seriously Daniel? Can't we just walk in and ask for a battle like normal people?"

I grin at him, "Not as long as my method keeps bothering you!"

"Tu-zut."

"Don't curse at me in different languages!"

He tilts his head, "Pourquoi? J'aime parler en français."

"SPEAK ENGLISH!"

"Je ne comprends pas, je ne parle pas anglais."

I groan, "I hate you so much." Xander justs laughs.

A girlish giggle shifts our attention to three girls behind us. I raise an eyebrow at them, "You're the gym leaders… right?" The girl with bluish purple hair shrugs.

"Like, yeah, but like, we don't really, like care for battling," she says in a valley girl accent. She extends her arm, "But, you can, like, totally take this anyways." She reveals to Cascade Badges.

Xander blinks before sneering in disgust and turning away, "Disappointing. Seems I've been training for nothing. I'm not going to accept something I did not earn."

The girl with blue hair shrugs, "Alright then, like, be that way."

I shake my head, "Forget it, let's go Xander." I'm only barely able to contain my own disgust. I knew they'd be pushovers, but at least they _fought_ in the anime, albeit off-screen.

I turn to leave as well, but then a voice cuts us off, "I'm here to challenge the gym!"

I look to Xander at the sound of the familiar voice, "Well, at least we don't have to find him…" I mutter.

"Alright! What the heck are you three doing now?!" an angry female voice cuts in.

I see Xander smirk, "Correction, Red, it's _wet_ the heck are you three doing now?"

I groan, along with the newcomers named Ash, Misty, and Brock.

* * *

**Next chapter involves battling of Pokemon and Words! I just had to put some plot development in this one. Sorry.**

**I know I said you would find out about the gym battle this chapter, but the plot development took a lot longer than I expected.**


	12. Water You Up To?

**Greetings once more! To start off, I will answer GGPD's question.**

**The four move limit, while not a part of the anime, was included as a large dampener to Xander and Daniel's battling power. Think about it, Xander was an ace student, and is highly intelligent, strategic, creative, and ruthless. Meanwhile, Daniel has extensive knowledge on Pokemon moves and numerous possible combinations that work. If those two weren't restrained by the four move limit, they would try to teach their pokemon every possible move they could learn.**

**Now connect some dots here. With Xander's ability to put his knowledge into practical use, and Daniel's knowledge of how many moves interact with one another, the two could chain moves and would literally become so OP that they could take on all the champions at once and not lose.**

**Xander already becomes dangerous once he begins to grasp the potential of his Psychic powers. And when Daniel gets his gift, he'll be quite powerful too.**

**Oh, in case you didn't understand, the reason Xander and Daniel are going to be near OP, is because Arceus wants to make sure that Ash will be highly protected, as well as the fact that Arceus will also send them to do various things later on.**

**NeedingOfLifeGoalDude, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**Daniel POV**

_I shake my head, "Forget it, let's go Xander." I'm only barely able to contain my own disgust. I knew they'd be pushovers, but at least they fought in the anime, albeit off-screen._

_I turn to leave as well, but then a voice cuts us off, "I'm here to challenge the gym!"_

_I look to Xander at the sound of the familiar voice, "Well, at least we don't have to find him…" I mutter._

"_Alright! What the heck are you three doing now?!" an angry female voice cuts in._

_I see Xander smirk, "Correction, Red, it's wet the heck are you three doing now?"_

_I groan, along with the newcomers named Ash, Misty, and Brock._

* * *

**Xander POV**

I smirk at the four's reaction to my horrid pun, "Well then, it's good to _sea_ you too!" I laugh as I step back swiftly to dodge a glaring Daniel's punch.

"Hey Xander, Daniel!" Ash waves. I nod back, "Hello again, Ash."

Daniel waves as well, "Sup Ash!"

I turn to Brock, "I thought you would be at your gym?"

The squinty eyed gym leader shrugged, "My father came back and took over, so I decided to join Ash and follow my dream of becoming a Pokemon Breeder." I nod appreciatively.

"That is a good goal."

Brock nods back, "Thank you, may I ask you what your goal is?"

I shrug, getting a feeling Brock and I will get along well, "I don't really have one yet, I'm just trying to be the best I can be for now, and keep this lug from getting himself hurt." I jab my thumb at Daniel, who glares at me.

"Keep me from getting hurt? Then what do you call breaking my nose?"

I shrug, "Panic at seeing somebody straddle me in my sleep?"

Daniel went red, "Oh shit… that's what it looked like to you?"

I roll my eyes, "Nooooo totally not, I definitely li-…" I cut myself short, "You know what, nevermind that joke, that was going into forbidden territories…"

Daniel looked at me curiously before facepalming, "I have a not-so-vague idea of what it is, and I don't like it."

I hear stomping coming near us and I sigh. "Great, angry redhead on the loose…" I step back and join Ash and Brock, "Prepare some popcorn," I mutter.

"Where did you two suddenly run off to?!" Misty shouted.

Daniel sighs, "We have things of our own to do."

"You could have at least told us!"

He rolls his eyes, "It was personal, don't forget I only recently met you."

"At least say you wouldn't be there in the morning!" Misty growled, "We wasted an hour trying to find you."

Daniel shrugged, "Sounds like a problem."

"It was!"

Daniel smirked, "Well, good thing it wasn't my problem then."

"Ugh! Why are you so hostile! You won't make friends like that!"

"Oi!" I cut in, "I'm the hostile one in our duo!"

"Shut it!" Misty shouts before turning to a laughing Daniel.

"Oh the hypocrisy! You just shouted for no reason, yet you call _me_ hostile?"

The bickering continues, and I turn to Ash, "So… any new Pokemon?"

He frowns, "Nope, I've been busy training Pikachu, Butterfree, and Pidgeotto. Oh! I got the Boulder Badge too!" I force a small smile onto my face to seem nice. Sorry, it's not that I'm not happy for him, it's just I can't smile on will. I can only smile when highly amused.

"Nice job Ash, Daniel and I got ours too."

Ash pumps his fist, "Awesome!" He suddenly straightens, "Hey, how about we battle while those two fight?"

We turn to the short redhead and tall brunette.

"Just because I like water pokemon does not mean anything like that!"

"Really? So you don't like getting yourself wet?" Daniel counters a red-faced Misty.

"Of course I like getting wet-"

Daniel roars with laughter and I can't help but laugh as well.

"Why are you laughing!?" Misty shouted in frustration.

"Oh! You'll understand when you're older!"

"I'm twelve! I'm pretty sure I'm old enough to understand!" I look to my left to find Brock shaking his head, but was biting his lip in amusement.

"I had no idea Daniel was so vulgar. But that was well played…"

I can't help but grin at the hilarity of the situation, "Daniel and I have an… interesting background, you could say. It's really _out-of-this-world_."

_**SMACK!**_

I cradle the back of my head, turning to see Daniel sighing and shaking his head, "Please, don't ever say that again. That joke was awful." I raised an eyebrow, and he just tilted his head a few times towards the bleachers where an embarrassed Misty paced back and forth.

Ash and Brock looked at us confusedly, "What joke?"

I shrug, "It's an inside joke, you wouldn't get it."

Brock nods in understanding, "I see."

I turn back to Ash, "To answer your suggest of battling from earlier, I'm gonna have to say no." Ash frowned at this and whined slightly, "Aww, why not?"

Daniel sighs, "Ash, don't forget that Xander and I need to be ready to take on the Gym Leader, just like you…" he glances back to the Sensational Sisters who were chatting amongst themselves, and I could sense Daniel's irritation with them for every 'like' they said. Seriously though, that _is _pretty annoying.

"Then again, the Gym Leaders here are a disappointment…"

"Not true!" A voice cried. We turned to the source, which was by the Gym Leaders battling stand, and found MIsty standing indignantly. "Unlike my annoying sisters-"

"You're the annoying runt!" the pink haired sister called out teasingly.

"Shut it Lily!" Misty snapped back, "Anyways, as I was saying, **I** can actually battle. Unlike _them_." She pointed accusingly towards her sisters, who just shrugged and went back to gossiping.

"Well that's good news!" Ash chuckled, then turned serious, "Well then, Misty, I challenge you to a gym battle!" I saw Brock about to interrupt, and take a gamble on what he was going to say, stopped him.

"Let him go first Brock. We'll wait." I told him. Brock hesitated, but nodded in agreement, "Alright then, if you're sure."

* * *

**Sorry, but I won't be describing all of Ash's battle since it's pretty much what happens in the anime episode. Most of Ash's battles won't be described unless they're different from canon.**

As I watch Ash battle, which is pretty much a play by play of what happened in the anime. Butterfree went first, and after several failed Spore attacks and Tackles from Staryu, was defeated. Now, however, Pidgeotto had just been thrown in, and Starmie as well.

The two exchanged blows of Flying and Water attacks. Admittedly, I was not paying that much attention. I was just waiting for Team Rocket.

"Starmie, no!" Misty cried as Starmie was slammed into the wall by Pidgeotto's Gust, and its red core flashing dangerously. Ash cheered, "This is it Pidgeotto! Use **Gu-**"

A loud bang interrupts the battle, as a weirdly designed machine comes in with a sucking hose. "Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!" the Trio begins as they suck up the Pokemon. Meanwhile, Daniel leaps over the edge, probably to guard the other Pokemon, while I leap over and run to Ash's side.

"Xander!? What do we do?!" Ash cried frantically.

"Calm down Ash." I scold, "Get Pikachu to use Thundershock with a power of 220 volts!"

Ash stared at me with confusion and panic, "What?!"

I roll my eyes and growl with frustration, "Just tell Pikachu to use thundershock at half power! If he uses too much the machine could explode and make everything worse!"

Ash nods uncertainty. I sigh with relief that he at least understood _that_.

"Pikachu!" Ash cried out.

"Pi?!" the electric mouse responded in panic is it tried to avoid being suckked up as well.

"Use **Thundershock** at half power!"

"Cha!" the pokemon responded before facing Team Rocket.

"PI-KA-CHU!" Ash's partner cried as it let loose a slightly weak version of Thundershock, but as the bolt arced around the machine, I knew the intended effect was about to occur.

* * *

**Daniel POV**

I valiantly try to keep the Pokemon safe from the suking machine that Team Rocket's cackling on. Seriously though, a laughing Meowth is _so_ annoying. I move the pokemon away as the tube nears us again.

I hear Pikachu let out a cry as a bolt of lightning strikes the machine, but it seemed weaker than it should be… Suddenly, the tube stopped moving. And silence reigned throughout the gym.

"Huh?" I hear James say in confusion.

"Why did we stop?" Meowth asks.

"Simple answer to a simple question." A loud growl rings in a way that is so familiar to my ears. Xander had hopped on one of the legs and was walking up the machine towards them menacingly.

Jesse glared and shouted with rage, "And who do you think you are twerp number two!?"

"Twerp?" Xander laughed, "Do you not know who you're dealing with? I thought word got around Team Rocket fast!"

Jesse and Meowth growled, "Like you can do anyt'ing to us!" Meowth shouted. James seemed to be studying Xander before he suddenly gasped, "Wait! That jacket's like the one Cassidy and Barnabas described! He's the kid that sent Bucky to the hospital and Cassidy to Cleaning duty! This kid is not someone we should mess with!" James shouted with fear.

Everyone but me stared at Xander in shock, who merely grinned with sick amusement, "Oh? So we do have a smart on in this trio of idiots. Good to know. By the way, now that the blue one mentioned it, how are Bitch's arms? I hope they're still fractured at the elbow. Oh! And tell them they need some firearm training, my friend told me they were holding a Deagle all wrong."

The Trio were stunned, and Xander turned to Ash, "Hey, I think these guys need a bit of a _jolt_ to wake them up!"

Ash shook himself out of shock and looked at Pikachu, "This time buddy, hold nothing back!"

The mouse's cheeks sparked and with a cry, he let loose a powerful Thundershock, sending the machine, and Team Rocket, flying. Xander had just jumped off and onto the poolside.

I laughed, "Really Xander, had to be intimidating?"

Xander grinned as he chuckled, "Can you blame me? I like scaring the hell outta people!"

Misty slowly came over to Ash, "Well… I know we never finished our battle, but you helped save the gym, so… here." She dropped the Cascade Badge into Ash's hand. Ash jumped and cheered, "Alright! I got… a Cascade Badge!"

Brock chuckled at the display from my side, (He was helping me guard the Pokemon), "C'mon, we should get over there." I nodded and started moving over, with Brock right behind me.

I had arrived at Xander's side when Misty turned to us, "Hey… uhh, I know you two didn't battle, but you both saved the Gym, so… here." She tried to give us the Cascade Badge. One glance between me and my antagonistic friend was all we needed.

"No." we said in unison, surprising Misty.

"What?"

Xander smirked, "We're too proud for handouts. We want to win this thing fair and square." Misty smirked at that, "You sure? I'm not going to be easy!"

Brock coughed at that, "Misty, these two are on a _whole_ other level than Ash. Daniel beat me with a type disadvantage, and I had to forfeit against Xander since I couldn't know what he was going to do."

Misty and Ash stared at us in shock, and from there two faces, I gain an idea. "Hey! How about a two-on-two match! Two Gym Leaders against Xander and I! Whaddya say?"

The two gym leaders went away for a second to speak. When they came back, they answered as one, "You're on!"

Ash cheered, "This is gonna be epic!"

* * *

**I'll be honest, I **_**so**_ **wanted to tease you and end it here, but Daniel would literally punch me in the face for doing so, so here is the ending battle! (He raised his fist at me when I wrote this…)**

Xander and I stand side by side on one end of the refilled pool. Brock and Misty stand over on the other end. This was going to be a two-on-two battle, two Pokemon blue haired sister, Violet, is acting ref.

"Is, like, everyone ready?"

Nods all around confirmed this.

"All right, then, like, let's get this battle started!"

"Go! Geodude!"

"Come on out! Staryu!"

"Let's do this, Scyther!"

"It's time to battle! Foxglove!"

"Go everyone!" Ash cheered from the stands.

"Geodude! Use **Rock Throw** on Scyther!" Brock ordered.

"Staryu! **Confusion** on Bulbasaur!" Misty cried.

"Scyther! Dodge and use **Vacuum Wave** on Geodude!" I call out, ans smirk as my pokemon swiftly dodges the thrown rocks while advancing, and leading a solid hit on the Rock pokemon. With Scyther's level, I'd say a good chunk was taken out.

Xander simply snapped his fingers, and Foxglove used **Vine Whip** to create a wave that suddenly wavered at the psychic energy thrown at it. Misty gaped in shock, "HOW DID YOU-!"

As Xander snapped again, with Staryu being suddenly whipped hard into a wall with vines, I call out my second command as Brock orders another **Rock Throw**.

"Scyther! **Quick Attack** into **Vacuum Wave**!" Just before my hit landed, I saw Brock grimace. "Geodude, I'm sorry. **Self-Destruct**." I grimace as I try to shout for scyther to cancel the attack. But I was too late, and Scyther doesn't have the greatest defense and hp…

The blast instantly knocked out Geodude and Scyther.

* * *

**Xander POV**

"Staryu, Geodude, and Scyther are, like, out!" Violet announces. I tch. Daniel would be at a large disadvantage now. Especially since I took out Staryu quickly, leaving mIsty flabbergasted at me. Everytime she tried to call out an attack, I would snap for Foxglove to strike again.

Daniel grinned, "Thankfully, she's pretty close to changing," he grabbed Charmander's pokeball, "Let's do this!"

"Go! Onix!"

"Come on out! Starmie!"

_**Vine Whip. Closest Target.**_ I snap to him. With a cry Foxglove uses his whips to strike and suddenly grab Starmie. Meanwhile, Daniel has told Charmander to hop on Onix and constantly use **Metal Claw** and **Dragon Rage**. is assault was similar to mine. Leave no room to counter.

"Hey! Give us a chance to attack!" Misty cried. I frown, "Brock warned you. Both of us give our opponent no free chances. You want to win? Make your own path to victory." _**Drag Target Closer. Spore. Vine Whip. Repeatedly.**_

With my snapping command, Starmie was dragged closer to Foxglove, despite Misty's attempts to order her pokemon to use attacks. As Foxglove dusted Starmie, I look to see Daniel cheering on his Charmander that was tiring out, while Onix on the verge of collapse, despite Brock's encouragement, as the Rock Snake was thrashing to get Charmander off.

"NOO!" Misty cried as Starmie finally fainted from the barrage of Vine Whips.

"Onix!" Brock shouted as his own pokemon collapsed.

"Onix and Starmie are, like, out!" Violet stated, "The winners are, like, Daniel and Xander from Pallet Town!"

"Yes!" Daniel cheered as he turned to me, hand raised. I shrug and weakly high-five him. I was already sure we would… Wait…

Everyone's attention is on the now glowing form of Foxglove and Charmander, which begin to grow.

"IVY!" the new Foxglove the Ivysaur cried with pride.

"MELEON!" the new Charmeleon roared with joy.

Daniel and I grin with anticipation of what's to come as we celebrate our starter's evolution.

* * *

**And… done! Man that was harder to do than it looked! I hope I don't have to do any double battles with two people again!**

**If Xander seemed really harsh with his battling style, good. Daniel is the more merciful at Pokemon battling, but will be rough when necessary. Xander, on the other hand, is straight ruthless. He will give no opportunities, and is extremely calculating.**

**The following idea is not mine, and I got it from a pokemon fanfic where Ash trains with the Battle Frontier, I only altered it a bit. Xander's style is that of a Cold Battler, while Ash and Daniel are Hot Battlers. More on that in later chapters!**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, and the next chapter will be pretty long, but will cover multiple episode! All the events from now to episode 13! Five whole episodes! See you then!**


End file.
